LAHORE: Former Punjab senior minister Abdul Aleem Khan approached the Lahore High Court on Tuesday to secure post-arrest bail in an inquiry by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against him on charges of possessing assets beyond means and having undeclared offshore companies.

Barrister Syed Ali Zafar moved the bail petition, saying his client had been falsely implicated in the case and illegally arrested by the NAB only to ruin his political career, damage his reputation and restrain him from serving the people of his constituency.

He submitted that since the petitioner ceased to be a minister 10 or so years ago, he had declared all his assets. He said that if there were any allegations or material against the petitioner of having committed any crime, the NAB or any investigating agency could have initiated an inquiry against him.

However, several years later in 2018 the NAB initiated a forged case against the petitioner, the counsel alleged, adding that the bureau did not take any action till the petitioner was elected as an MPA.

Barrister Zafar argued in the petition that the arrest of Aleem Khan was illegal as he was never an absconder rather fully cooperated with the NAB during the inquiry. He said the NAB had not levelled any allegation nor relied on any material for establishing misuse of authority or misappropriation of government funds by the petitioner in his capacity as public office-holder.

He further submitted that the NAB miserably failed to produce any evidence with respect to the four elements of the offence of assets beyond means as laid down by the Supreme Court. The petitioner’s assets had been declared in his wealth statements and other filings, and he did not possess any assets that had not been declared. Moreover, he said, each and every asset, income and sources had been disclosed before the Federal Bureau of Revenue authorities and the same record had been given to the NAB authority as well.

The counsel argued that the NAB’s allegations that the petitioner’s parents acted as “benamidars” for the petitioner and that he held assets through them were false. However, he pointed out that the NAB had not produced any evidence in support of this allegation. The lawyer asked the court to release Khan on post-arrest bail and declare his arrest illegal.

A division bench headed by Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan will take up the bail petition on Wednesday (today).

The NAB had arrested Aleem Khan on Feb 6 when he appeared before its combined investigation team. On March 5, an accountability court had denied the bureau further custody of Khan and sent him to jail on judicial remand.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2019