LAHORE, Nov 17: The Lahore High Court on Monday set aside an imprisonment and a fine to former National Assembly deputy speaker Haji Nawaz Khokhar by an accountability court.

The high court set aside the sentence under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

Haji Nawaz Khokhar through his counsel, Manzoor Malik, had filed a plea for acquittal before the LHC, stating that after the promulgation of NRO-2007 his sentence should be set aside.

The accountability court had sentenced Khokhar to three-year imprisonment with a fine of Rs1.89 million on June 15, 2004.

The court had also barred Khokhar from contesting elections, holding any public office and availing loans from any bank for 10 years.

The former deputy speaker was accused of evading Rawalpindi district's Sihala and Kural union council fees amounting to Rs1.8 million from 1990 to 1993.

He was also accused of getting 150 kanals of land in Loi Bhe village near Islamabad illegally in his wife’s name.