LHC grants bail to Fawad Hassan Fawad in assets case

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) issued bail to former prime minister’s principal secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad in a reference to unlawful properties claimed against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Fawad Hassan Fawad worked in various posts in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) federal and Punjab governments until he was detained by NAB on July 5, 2018, initially in the Ashiana-i-Iqbal housing scandal. He stayed behind bars for approximately 19 months.

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Fawad was the second high-profile arrest of senior bureaucrats assumed to be closely linked with the previous PML-N government as the former managing director of the Lahore Development Authority. Ahad Khan Cheema was the first to be detained by NAB on 21 February 2018 under the same housing scam.

Ahad Cheema is still behind bars and his bail petitions are pending before the LHC in several cases. During the proceedings on Tuesday, the lawyer for Fawad stated before the bench that the prosecution had not yet made its claims before the trial court.

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In addition, the cousel said the trial was unnecessarily delayed, and so far the petitioner had not been indicted. The bench comprising Justice Tariq Abbasi and Justice Chaudhry Mushtaq Ahmad, after hearing the arguments granted Mr Fawad bail pursuant to security bonds of Rs10 million.