LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday res­t­­rained the National Acc­o­u­ntability Bureau (NAB) from taking coercive measures against former Punjab chief minister Usman Buz­dar and former federal minister Moonis Elahi in relation to inquiries against them.

Hearing a petition filed by Mr Elahi, a two-judge LHC bench headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi issued a notice to NAB for submitting a reply by Nov 7.

Earlier, Advocate Amjad Pervez appearing on behalf of Mr Elahi, argued before the court that NAB reopened an already closed inquiry without permission from the accountability court. He said NAB had cleared the petitioner and his family members after a comprehensive investigation.

The counsel said NAB issued call-up notices to the petitioner and others on political grounds. He asked the court to set aside the notices issued by the bureau for being illegal.

The bench, however, sou­ght a reply from the NAB and restrained it from taking coercive measures against the petitioner.

Hearing the petition of Usman Buzdar at its Multan seat, a division bench of the LHC headed by Justice Shakeel Ahmad also restrained NAB from taking coercive measures against the petitioner and sought a reply to this effect by Nov 7.

Advocate Momin Malik argued on behalf of the former chief minister that NAB initiated baseless inquiry against the petitioner. He asked the court to set aside the impugned inquiry and also summon details of all other inquiries initiated against the petitioner.

NAB is holding an inquiry on alleged illegal promotions in the communication and work department during the tenure of former CM Buzdar.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2022