LAHORE: An accountability court was told on Thursday an inquiry of assets beyond means against former defence minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif had been upgraded into an investigation.

A prosecutor of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) stated this before the court while the jail officials produced Mr Asif for the hearing of the case against him.

Presiding Judge Jawadul Hassan adjourned further hearing till Feb 18 and also extended the judicial remand of Mr Asif.

The judge allowed an application and permitted four business partners of Mr Asif to meet him in jail.

Interestingly, no prominent leader of the PML-N visited the court to express solidarity with Mr Asif. However, some party workers from Sialkot met with Asif inside the court.

The NAB had arrested Asif on Dec 30, 2020 from Islamabad and later shifted him to Lahore. He remained in the custody of the bureau till Jan 22, 2021 as the court denied his further physical remand.

PARAGON CITY: An accountability court on Thursday adjourned hearing of Paragon City reference against former railways minister Khwaja Saad Rafiq and his brother Khwaja Salman Rafiq as the defence counsel cross-examined a prosecution witness.

Khwaja Salman appeared before the court while an application for one-time exemption from personal appearance was filed on behalf of Saad.

The defence counsel told the court that Saad was in Islamabad to attend the ongoing session of the National Assembly. The judge allowed the application and adjourned further hearing till Feb 11.

CHINIOT MINES: An accountability court on Thursday adjourned hearing of a corruption reference against provincial minister Sibtain Khan and eight others for their alleged involvement in illegally granting a multi-billion contract regarding leasing rights of iron and ore deposits in Rajoa and Chiniot areas.

The minister, who is on post-arrest bail, and other suspects appeared before the court.

Judge Amjad Nazir Chaudhry directed the NAB to supply copies of the reference to all the suspects so they could be indicted without a delay. The hearing was adjourned till March 6.

Earlier, on the arrival of Sibtain Khan, a leader of PTI, in the court, the workers of PML-N, who were already present there for the hearings of their leaders, chanted slogans against the government. They also chased the minister while chanting “atta chor” and “cheeni chor” (flour thief,sugar thief).

The NAB had arrested Sibtain Khan in June 2019 along with other co-suspects--ex-secretary (mines) Imtiaz Ahmed Cheema, ex-general manager (operations and planning) Muhammad Aslam and ex-chief inspector (mines) Abdul Sattar. The remaining three co-suspects-- ex-chairman (planning and development) Salman Ghani, legal adviser PUNJMIN/ ex-director of ERPL Muhammad Shahid and MD (PUNJMIN) Rao Manzar Hayat were arrested during the investigation process. Later, Hayat turned an approver against the other suspects of the scam.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2021