LAHORE: As Federal Minister of PML-N Mian Javed Latif failed to join the probe into land grab case against him, the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) decided to re-summon him.

An ACE official told Dawn on Thursday that Javed Latif and his brothers were called on the charges of illegal occupation of government land in Sheikhupura but the minister did not bother to join the investigation. He said the ACE would re-summon him.

Earlier, the National Accountability Bureau had accused Latif of acquiring assets worth billions of rupees in the name of his siblings after coming into politics. Before entering politics, he reportedly lived in an inherited ‘12-marla’ house in Habib Colony, Sheikhupura. He allegedly acquired the majority of his assets in the name of his mother, a housewife and a non-tax filer, to park his black money.

The PTI-PML-Q provincial government recently booked Latif and three others under Section 9 (punishment for acts intended or likely to stir up sectarian hatred) and Section 11X(3) (responsibility for creating civil commotion) of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 for allegedly “fanning religious hatred” against former prime minister Imran Khan and “endangering his life.”

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2022