LAHORE: In a written verdict issued on the bail application of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz MP Khawaja Asif, the Lahore High Court on Wednesday declared that him not causing a “single penny” loss to the national exchequer was an “established fact”.
However, in the 18-page verdict, Justice Aalia Neelum and Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi further observed that the accusation of Asif being in possession of assets beyond his declared income did merit a formal inquiry.
The verdict read that despite the fact that the National Accountability Bureau had told the court that reference against the former minister would be sent to its chairman, retired Justice Javed Iqbal, for approval, a formal reference had not been filed against the suspect until the approval of the bail request.
Furthermore, it said that a representative of a Dubai-based firm wanted to join the proceedings, but the investigation officer in the case did not include him in the probe.
It further said that the PML-N leader has declared his income from foreign sources in his annual tax returns and announced that the agency did not get confirmation of Asif’s wealth stashed in foreign bank banks.
The high court has also made part of its decision an application of Adviser to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar which he had submitted to the NAB.
NAB arrested Asif from outside the Islamabad residence of another PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal in December last year on charges of being in possession of assets beyond his declared sources of income.
According to a detailed charge sheet, NAB was carrying out investigations against Asif under Clause 4 of the NAB Ordinance, 1999 and Section 3 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010.
“Before assuming the public office in 1991, the total worth of Khawaja Asif’s assets was Rs5.1 million which increased to Rs221m in 2018 after serving on different posts that do not match with his known sources of income,” said the statement.
“Accused Khawaja Asif claimed to have received Rs130 million from a UAE firm M/s IMECO, but during the course of the investigation, he failed to present any solid evidence of receiving this amount as a salary,” it said. “This clearly shows that the accused tried to prove his income through fake sources.”
Moreover, NAB alleged that Asif was also running a company, Tariq Mir and Company — registered in the name of his staffer — through his frontmen. It said that an amount of Rs400 million was deposited in the account of Tariq Mir and no sources of this huge amount were disclosed.
