Court extends pre-arrest bail of Kamran Kiyani, Nadeem Zia in corruption case

• They said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) should file a separate reference against the suspects Kamran Kiyani and Zia who recently joined the investigation.
• On the other hand, the counsel for the two suspects asked the court to resume the trial proceedings afresh.
• Former director general of Lahore Development Authority Ahad Khan Cheema, who is also an accused, appeared before the court.

LAHORE: An accountability court on Saturday extended interim pre-arrest bail of Kamran Kiyani, a brother former army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kiani, and Nadeem Zia, one of the owners of Paragon City, in a corruption reference of Punjab Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme.

In this reference, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has been granted a permanent exemption from personal appearance in the proceedings. A pleader, however, attended the proceedings on behalf of the prime minister.

Former director general of Lahore Development Authority Ahad Khan Cheema, who is also an accused, appeared before the court.

Earlier, the counsel for the prime minister and other accused persons requested the court to conclude the trial proceedings expeditiously. They said the majority of the prosecution witnesses had been cross examined.

They said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) should file a separate reference against the suspects Kamran Kiyani and Zia who recently joined the investigation.

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On the other hand, the counsel for the two suspects asked the court to resume the trial proceedings afresh.

Presiding Judge Sajid Ali Awan adjourned further hearing till Oct 29 and also extended the bail of the two suspects.

The NAB alleged that Shehbaz and other accused persons caused a huge loss to national exchequer by awarding the contract of the housing scheme to a company without bidding.

It arrested Cheema on Feb 21, 2018 on charges of misusing his authority with criminal intent and awarding Rs14 billion contracts of Ashiana-i-Iqbal scheme. It alleged that Cheema received illegal gratification in form of 32 kanals of land from the owners of Paragon City Developers in reward for the contract of the housing scheme awarded to its proxy firm namely Bismillah Engineering.

Drug case: A special court (Control of Narcotics Substance) on Saturday adjourned the hearing of a drug recovery case against Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan till Nov 19.

The minister did not attend the hearing due to official responsibilities in Islamabad and sought a one-time exemption from personal appearance.

The court allowed the request and adjourned the hearing.

The Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) had arrested Khan on July 1, 2019 and claimed to have recovered 15kg heroin from his vehicle. The FIR was lodged under section 9 (C) of Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997.

He was twice denied bail by the trial court and finally the Lahore High Court released him on Dec 24, 2019. Other suspects include Sibtain Haider, Usman Ahmad and Muhammad Akram.