RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) has given the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) a two-week deadline to submit their reply regarding a request filed by the Sharif brothers to stop all investigations against them, DawnNews reported.

The LHC’s Rawalpindi bench held a hearing on Thursday for the request filed by Khwaja Haris, the lawyer representing the Sharif brothers, to stop NAB’s investigations against them.

While presenting the evidence, Khwaja Haris said that a petition for the discarding of the NAB cases against the Sharif brothers is already being heard at the High Court.

Moreover, he added that the high court has also temporarily barred the accountability court from hearing the case.

Earlier in July, NAB Chairman Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari had requested an accountability court to reopen pending cases against PML-N leaders Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif.

The three cases included the Hudaibiya Paper Mills, Assets Beyond Known Sources of Income and the Ittefaq Foundry (Wilful Loan Default) cases. Proceedings in the cases were adjourned sine die by the accountability court in 2001 when the brothers were in exile.

After their return to the country, NAB filed an application in 2007 reopening the cases. The application was accepted but in 2010 the cases were adjourned sine die by the accountability court which directed that the trial could be commenced if an application signed by NAB’s chairman was submitted before the court.

Khwaja Haris on Thursday requested the high court to prevent NAB from proceeding with the investigations against Sharif brothers. The high court, as a result, postponed the next hearing for two weeks and ordered NAB to submit an official reply.