LAHORE – An accountability court in Lahore approved the NationalAccountability Bureau’s (NAB) plea on Tuesday to close an inquiry againstPunjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Pakistan MuslimLeague-Quaid chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.
The 19-year-old inquiry was shelved due to lack of evidence; the duo hadbeen accused of causing losses to the state exchequer by influencing LahoreDevelopment Authority (LDA) officials to exempt more than 21 kanals ofland, and 28 plots measuring 10 marlas each, in a private housing society.
The anti-graft body had opened an inquiry into the matter in 2000 and foundthat the two allegedly purchased the pieces of land through their frontmenMirza Aslam Baig and Mohammad Nawaz, Dawn News reported.
During today’s proceedings, NAB’s investigation officer (IO) presented thefindings of the inquiry in court and said that no evidence could be foundto suggest that the Chaudhry brothers were involved in the purchase of theland.
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The plots were purchased by the Chaudhry brothers’ employees and the PML-Qleaders had no connection to the deals, the officer told the court.
In January this year, NAB IO Waqarul Haq had concluded the inquiry with anote that the investigation should be discontinued. Haq had initiated theinvestigations in November 2017.
