The Lahore Accountability Court has rejected a petition seeking directions to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit an investigation report against Federal Minister Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar on charges of illegal assets.
Rahim Yar Khan's lawyer Ahsan Abid had filed the petition under sections 17C and 18F of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999.
Petitioner's counsel Aftab Ahmad Bajwa contended that the Federal Minister and his brothers had six sugar mills, several investment companies and agricultural lands as their known sources of income.
He said that NAB Multan office had started an investigation in 2018 regarding the assets of the family of the federal minister and they had found out more than the income.
He pointed out that a regional board meeting held on December 11, 2018, decided to send the case to the NAB headquarters with a full inquiry into the case and a recommendation for further action as per law.
The counsel contended that the NAB was bound to complete the inquiry and submit its report before the relevant accountability court.
However, he alleged that the bureau did not submit the report due to pressure from the federal minister.
He requested the court to order NAB to submit an investigation report and reference on the complaint.
Opposing the petitioner, NAB Special Prosecutor Assadullah Awan argued that the accountability court had no jurisdiction to order the bureau to file a reference.
He said the accountability court could not call for a report during the investigation as its jurisdiction begins after the reference is filed.
He demanded the court to dismiss the petition.
After hearing the arguments of both the parties, Presiding Judge Sajjad Ahmed dismissed the petition as inadmissible.
The reasons for rejection of the application will be given in the detailed decision.
According to a separate report in Dawn newspaper, Dr. Amjad, the owner of Eden Garden Housing Limited, who had fled the country three years ago to avoid arrest in a housing scandal case, has now returned home and met with the NAB. Offered
Sources said that after getting security guarantee, Dr Amjad met NAB Lahore and offered a plebiscite of Rs 9 billion.
However, the NAB rejected his request and asked him to pay at least Rs 16 billion in a plebiscite.
Dr. Amjad and his son fled to Canada in 2018 despite a request from the NAB's Interior Ministry to put their names on an exit control list.
The NAB then confiscated more than Rs 15 billion worth of Eden Garden Housing Limited's assets and announced that it would start compensating the affected people.
