Court acquits Nawaz in plot allotment case from 1980s
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- LAHORE: Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was acquitted on Saturday by an accountability court in a case involving the alleged improper distribution of properties to the owner of a media business in 1986.Judge Rao Abdul Jabbar issued the order in response to complaints submitted by Yousaf Abbas, Mr Sharif’s nephew, and others disputing the auction of properties allegedly owned by Nawaz Sharif. They claimed ownership of the assets ordered by the court to be auctioned after the former premier was deemed a proclaimed offender for his frequent absence from the trial hearings.The applicants who objected to the auction claimed that the assets had been transferred to them as the owners’ lawful legal heirs.Their lawyer, Qazi Misbahul Hassan, contended in court that the main accused (the media owner) and two former Lahore Development Authority (LDA) personnel had already been acquitted in the case of the 37-year-old ‘illegal’ property assignment. He said that the acquittal of the main suspects demonstrated that no crime was committed.As a result, he contended that continuing proceedings against any additional accused, even a proclaimed offender, after the acquittal of the primary accused would be futile.The judge accepted the counsel’s arguments and acquitted Nawaz Sharif in the case.
On January 31, 2022, the trial court acquitted a media house owner, former LDA director general Humayon Faiz Rasool, and its former director of land development department Mian Bashir Ahmad.
- The NAB said that the media owner improperly secured exemption for 54 plots in Johar Town’s Block-H, each measuring one kanal. It claimed that the land was granted in collusion with then-chief minister Nawaz Sharif, in violation of the exemption policy and regulations prohibiting monetary benefits. It was claimed that the accused created a loss of Rs143.53 million to the national exchequer by allotting in breach of the exemption policy.Acquitting the main accused, the court noted in its conclusion that the media owner received plots in 1986, and the LDA, according to the prosecution, enacted a policy mandating payment of excess plots at market value in 1990. The court determined that the regulation did not apply retroactively and was only applicable in future circumstances.Because the prosecution admitted that the reserved amount was paid on time, the court found that no loss was caused to the LDA by any conduct of the accused or his co-accused people.UAE tour
Meanwhile, PML-N chief organiser Maryam Nawaz arrived in Dubai to spend Eid with her father and the party’s supreme leader, Nawaz Sharif, who had arrived from the United Kingdom.
A party meeting on issues ranging from elections to caretaker setup and his (Nawaz) return is expected to be held during their stay in the UAE, according to a PML-N insider. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and some senior party leaders are also expected to arrive in the UAE to attend the party meeting on the issue of holding elections and the caretaker setup after the coalition government term ends on August 13.
“Another important agenda item for the huddle will be the elder Sharif’s return to Pakistan ahead of the elections, as well as steps being taken to secure court relief in the cases in which he is convicted,” he said.
Mr Sharif may potentially stop in Saudi Arabia on his way to London.
Marriyum Aurangzeb, the Information Minister, did not react to Dawn’s inquiry on the party meeting specifics in Dubai, but she did tweet that Maryam Nawaz had left for Dubai (from Lahore) on a private visit. “Nawaz Sharif is already in Dubai, along with other family members,” she added.
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- Currently, he claimed, names of persons close to the establishment were being floated as possible candidates for caretaker premier.
