LAHORE: A Lahore High Court division bench on Wednesday allowed more time to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to file replies to the bail petitions of former railways minister Khwaja Saad Rafiq and his brother Khwaja Salman Rafiq in Paragon City case.

As the bench resumed hearing, a NAB counsel requested for further time for submitting the replies. The bench accepted the request and adjourned hearing till March 14.

In their bail petitions, the Khwaja brothers contended that the NAB implicated them in the case without any justification as they had been extending their full cooperation to it during the investigation.

The petitioners claimed that they furnished all documents to prove that they had no link to the Paragon City Society. They said the NAB arrested them purely on political grounds and also failed to present any cogent evidence against them during physical remand. They asked the bench to grant post-arrest bail.

The NAB accused the Khwaja brothers of establishing a housing project in the name of Air Avenue. Later, the project was converted into a new housing project namely Paragon City Pvt Ltd. The Paragon City, as per the NAB, was an illegal society and not approved by the Lahore Development Authority.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2019