Assets, money-laundering case: Shahbaz wants to know NAB grounds for his arrest

LAHORE: The counsel for opposition leader in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif Monday asked the Lahore High Court (LHC) to order the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to furnish grounds for the arrest of his client in money laundering and illegal assets case.

“It would not affect Pakistan’s relations with India if NAB discloses the grounds for the arrest,” Shahbaz’s lead counsel Azam Nazir Tarar said in his arguments during the hearing of pre-arrest bail petition, filed before a division bench.

The counsel said there were rumours that Shahbaz Sharif would be arrested in the aftermath of the Sunday’s all parties’ conference. He argued that the NAB wish to arrest the petitioner was beyond any logic since the accountability court had already commenced the trial proceedings on the reference, filed the by the bureau.

He also asked the bench to make the reference part of the bail proceedings. He pointed out that NAB had not furnished the grounds for the arrest in the case of former railways minister Khwaja Saad Rafiq and his brother too. Advocate Tarar said how he could present the arguments without knowing the grounds for the arrest of his client. Shahbaz was also present in the court, packed to its capacity along with his legal team comprising Advocate Amjad Pervez and LHCBA President Tahir Nasarullah Warraich. Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem, the head of the bench, asked the NAB prosecution team as to why the arrest of the petitioner was necessary. Special Prosecutor Syed Faisal Raza Bokhari said the investigation was still in progress relating to foreign properties of the petitioner.

He said the petitioner always told the investigating team that he needed to visit abroad to bring details of the properties in question. At this, Shahbaz said he could say on oath that the investigating officer had told him that the investigation had been completed. The bench asked the petitioner’s counsel whether NAB was required to furnish grounds for the arrest in the proceedings of bail before arrest. Advocate Tarar said it was fundamental right of the petitioner to know the reasons for his arrest. He said all inquiries NAB initiated against the leader of the opposition were on the complaints, filed by anonymous ‘patriots’.

The bench asked the legal team of Shahbaz to open the arguments on the bail petition and also assured them that NAB would also be asked to answer their questions. At this, Advocate Pervez apprised the bench of the history of the cases against Shahbaz and his previous arrest by NAB. He said the petitioner was arrested on Oct 5, 2018 in Ashiana-i-Iqbal housing scheme case when he appeared before NAB inPunjab Saaf Pani company case. Later, he said, NAB arrested Shahbaz in Ramzan Sugar Mills inquiry on Nov 10, predicting its failure to justify his arrest in the housing scheme case. He said the inquiry into the alleged money laundering and illegal assets was already in progress well before the release of the petitioner on bail in the sugar mills and housing scheme cases.

He said NAB claimed to have started money laundering inquiry following a suspected transaction it found eight months before the arrest of the petitioner. Asked about the suspected transaction, the special prosecutor told the bench that a report of the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) about the two suspected transactions was received from the State Bank on Oct 29 and 31, 2018.

He said the FMU report was a secret document and had not been part of the reference, filed before the trial court. Advocate Pervez argued that NAB had not interrogated the petitioner in the money laundering case during the period of physical and judicial remand. He pointed out that the Supreme Court, in its recent judgments, expressed serious concerns over the lopsided actions of NAB. The bench adjourned the hearing and directed the petitioner’s counsel to resume arguments on Tuesday (today).