LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has granted National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore Director-General Shahzad Saleem more time to furnish a record of the ongoing graft inquiries against PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.
The Lahore High Court heard the petitions of the PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi against who challenged the bureau’s inquiries into charges of misuse of powers, willful default, and asset beyond means against them.
The Lahore High Court, while expressing outrage over DG NAB Shahzad Saleem, inquired about the progress of the inquiry against the petitioners.
The DG NAB maintained that he was appointed in 2017 but Justice Shehram Sarwar remarked that the inquiry has been going on for 20 years and you have no knowledge.
The court while adjourning the hearing directed the DG NAB to come prepared in the next trial. After which the court postponedthe hearing till next Thursday.
It should be noted that the Chaudhry brothers have challenged the powers of the NAB chairman in court. The Chaudhry brothers moved the petition, stating that the bureau had initiated investigation against them back in 2000 but failed to find a shred of evidence to substantiate the charges.
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They contended that the NAB chairman had in February this year ordered a fresh investigation into the matter, arguing that the investigations are illegal and unlawful. They requested the court to declare void the investigations launched against them.
The petitioners said in the petition that NAB is a political body. The NAB chairman has ordered a re-investigation of the 20-year-old case while the chairman does not have the authority to reopen the 20-year-old inquiry so the bureau’s inquiries should be declared illegal.
