Petitions filed by Chaudhry brothers: LHC division bench adjourns hearing till 11th

A division bench of the Lahore High Court Thursday adjourned to May 11 the hearing of three identical petitions of PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervez Elahi challenging 20-year old inquiries against them initiated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as the bench had received the case files late.

Earlier, the counsel of Chaudhry brothers' counsel objected to the presence of Justice

Farooq Haider on the bench and said he had represented the Chaudhry brothers in a number of cases before his elevation.

Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem, who was heading the bench, observed that the bench was not going to hear petition since it received the case files late and unable to go through them.

He said the bench will hear the petitions on May 11 and will decide first the objection by the counsel in the presence of the other bench member.

Chaudhry Pervez Elahi personally appeared before the bench along with other party leaders and his legal team including Lahore High Court Bar Association's President Tahir Nasrullah Warraich and Amjad Pervez.

Chaudhry Pervez Elahi did not talk to media, however, his party leader Kamil Ali Agha said the NAB had initiated the inquiries against the Chaudhry brothers 20 years ago on an anonymous complaint. He said his party had an old stance that the NAB had been established for political victimization.

Agha said the party leaders had presented their view before the court, through petitions, and now the lawyers will do their job.

The Chaudhry brothers said in their petitions that in year 2000 the then chairman of the respondent bureau authorized investigation against them on the allegations of misuse of authority, assets beyond means and willful default under National Accountability Ordinance 1999.

They said all the three investigations were recommended for closure by the investigating officers and regional board of the NAB during 2017 and 2018 when the regime of political arch rivals was in place.

However, they said, the chairman of the NAB approved in 2019 reinvestigation and bifurcation of the inquiries against them.

They asked the court to set aside the authorization of the inquiries and the order for their bifurcation passed by the NAB chairman for being unlawful.