The Accountability Court hearing the liquefied natural gas (LNG) case on Monday ordered to release former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on parole to attend the funeral prayer of his uncle.
Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir hearing an application filed by Abbasi's sister Sadia Abbasi, seeking release of her brother who is in the custody of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to attend funeral prayer of his uncle, said if the district administrations of Rawalpindi and Islamabad are ready to take responsibility for making foolproof security arrangements then the director general National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi should release the suspect on parole.
During the hearing, the judge asked Abbasi's sister who has died. On this she said that her uncle has died. She said the NAB officials told her that matter comes under domain of the Accountability Court, adding that NAB office told her that they are contacting the court.
The judge asked about the location of the funeral being held. To this, the court was told that the funeral would be held in Murree.
Sadia Abbasi told the court that she filed this application on humanitarian grounds and God forbid such petitions are not filed on daily basis. Over 60 days of physical remand of his brother has been completed and still the NAB officials are saying that they are conducting investigation. This is not a reasonable ground to reject the application, she added.
The NAB prosecutor while objecting to Sadia Abbasi's request said that the Bureau is conducting investigation from him and an accused cannot be released on parole during physical remand. The court reserved its judgment for sometime and later while announcing its judgment ordered to release Abbasi on parole.