The Khwaja Brothers - Khwaja Saad Rafique and Khwaja Salman Rafique - are finally out as the Supreme Court on Tuesday granted them bail in a graft reference filed by the top anti-graft body. The apex court approved the bails of the Khwaja brothers against two surety bonds worth Rs 3 million each. They have been facing a corruption reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). A two-judge bench comprising Justice Maqbool Baqar and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, heard the bail pleas filed by Khwaja brothers.
Advocate Amjad Pervez, the counsel for Khwaja brothers said that the chairman NAB pardoned Qaiser Ameen Butt, a witness in the case twice, but the pardon was later withdrawn as the chairman was displeased after he recorded statement before the magistrate just after the pardon.He said the chairman NAB pardoned Qasir Amin Butt on December 5, 2018, adding Qaiser Butt wanted a plea bargain deal but the NAB rejected his request.
He alleged that the NAB's aim was only to make a case against the Khwaja brothers. On December 11, 2019, the NAB had arrested Khwaja brothers after the Lahore High Court (LHC) rejected their request for an extension in their pre-arrest bail in a case pertaining to the Paragon Housing Society scam.
They had approached the apex court after the LHC had cancelled their bail plea. Following their arrests, the NAB Lahore issued a presser, which said, "Accused Saad Rafique along with his wife Ghazala Saad Rafique, brother Salman Rafique in association with Qaiser Amin Butt and Nadeem Zia established a housing project in the name of Air Avenue, which was converted into a new housing project namely M/S Paragon City (Pvt) Limited.
Record showed that M/S Paragon City is an illegal society. "Accused in collusion, connivance and collaboration of Qaiser Amin Butt and Nadeem Zia cheated the members of public at large and obtained illegal pecuniary benefits from the funds of said illegal housing project," it added.
"Accused is operating this illegal housing project through his associates/co-accused persons, who are collecting deposits from general public despite clear directions from the LDA that this project is unapproved," it said. "Accused has been and is continuously obtaining illegal/illegitimate funds/benefits from said project as he obtained 40 kanal plots in his own name, and the name of his brother Salman Rafique."
It continued, "Accused by misusing his official position, continued the expansion and marketing of illegal housing project and also obtained undue benefits in the form of sale of numbers of commercial plots worth billions of rupees, which were actually not owned by M/S Paragon City.