LAHORE: An accountability court on Wednesday extended physical remand of Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif till December 6.
Earlier, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials produced Shehbaz Sharif before Accountability Judge Syed
Najamul Hassan on expiry of the remand term.
The NAB prosecutor Waris Ali Janjua submitted that Shehbaz Sharif had been in custody of the bureau for the last
54 days, in response to a court query. He further submitted that investigations could not be completed from Shehbaz Sharif due to National Assembly sessions.
However, Shehbaz Sharif clarified that he had been in NAB custody for 55 days whereas investigations also continued
during the sessions.
To which, the NAB officials pleaded with the court to grant further physical remand of Shehbaz Sharif for carrying
out investigations regarding his bank transactions and assets and gifts beyond means. They submitted that Shehbaz Sharif gave a gift of Rs 60 million to Hamza Shehbaz whereas his income did not correspond with it.
They further submitted that Shehbaz Sharif did not give appropriate answers to NAB questionaire. They submitted that
the bureau had complete record of Shehbaz Sharif income from 2011 to 2017 whereas his expenses were more than income.
However, Advocate Amjad Pervez on behalf of Shehbaz Sharif, submitted that his client received an amount from sale
of a property and a part of the same was given in gift to Hamza. He also opposed remand request saying that NAB
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had failed to get any evidence during the investigations.
Subsequently, the court reserved its verdict on remand request for some time but later, extended the physical remand
till December 6 while allowing the NAB plea.
The NAB officials also presented Shehbaz Sharif’s medical reports during the proceedings and apprised that Sheikh Zayed Hospital had been asked to look into the matter and form a medical board, if required.
Shehbaz Sharif was in custody of NAB since October 5 for his alleged involvement in Rs 14 billion Ashiana Housing
Scheme scam.
Senior bureaucrat Fawad Hassan Fawad and Lahore Development Authority (LDA) former director general Ahad
Cheema and others had already been arrested in connection with the housing scam.
NAB launched an investigation into the scam in November last year after receiving a number of complaints in this regard.
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