LAHORE: A division bench of the Lahore High Court will proceed with a post arrest bail petition of former defence minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif on April 27 in an inquiry of money laundering and assets beyond known source of income.

The same bench will also proceed with the bail petition of Capt Muhammad Safdar (retd) son-in-law of former premier Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on April 28 in reference of assets beyond known source of income. The bench had already issued restrictive order in favour of Capt Safdar against his arrest.

The bench comprising Justice Alia Neelum and Justice Farooq Haider had directed prosecutor to furnish the missing copies of the reply of the NAB seeking dismissal of the bail petition.

The NAB alleged that Asif failed to explain the sources of his income and assets. It said the suspect was first elected senator in 1991 when his assets were around Rs 5 million. It said the assets of the suspect swelled to Rs 221 million by 2018, which were beyond known sources of his income.

The NAB had arrested him from Islamabad on December 29, 2020 and later shifted to Lahore.

The bail petition stated that the petitioner during the 22-day physical remand with the NAB had not been confronted with any direct or circumstantial evidence. The petition said the petitioner had already provided the NAB an explanation of various sources of income justifying the acquisition of the assets owned and possessed by him.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021