LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday restrained the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from arresting Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Captain (r) Safdar Awan in an assets probe against him.
A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Sardar Sarfraz Dogar, served a notice on the agency, directing it to submit its response in a petition filed by Awan which sought to challenge a call-up notice by the dirty money watchdog.
Subsequently, the bench barred NAB from arresting Awan until March 29.
In a related development, the bureau decided to nominate Awan’s wife and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz in the probe.
The inquiry against Awan has been in progress since early 2018 over the possession of assets allegedly disproportionate to declared sources of his income, which is a crime under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999.
A complainant had alleged that Awan owned 300 kanals of land, a 30 kanals plot, a one kanal house, a flour production unit and other properties in the Mansehra district.
The Lahore chapter of NAB made the decision after finding “important leads” in the case. Maryam has been found to be the beneficial owner of the frontmen properties acquired by Awan, it said.
The agency further said Maryam owns hundreds of acres of land in her name in Raiwind and other neighbourhoods and cities of Punjab.
The documents suggest that details have also been sought regarding Awan’s sources of earning.
The agency said that its Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) office received information about the properties in 2020, but the cases were moved to Lahore as the majority of the said assets were found to be in the Punjab capital.
