Court reserves verdict on Khawaja brothers’ acquittal pleas
LAHORE (92 News) – An accountability court on Monday reserved verdict on acquittal pleas of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) leader Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother Khawaja Salman Rafique in Paragon Housing Society reference.
During the hearing, the court has directed to present the accused in next hearing. The court will announce the verdict on October 16 and ordered to present accused at 12pm in the next hearing.
Kahwaja Saad Rafique’s defence consul adopted a stance that the NAB filed a reference against him without reviewing SECP and Companies Act. “The filing of case in the accountability court against Khawaja brothers is violation of their basic rights.
The lawyer argued that neither Khawaja Brothers were accused of misusing their authority, nor did they cheat the public. The NAB prosecutor took the stand that the accused denied the charges and preferred to stand trial.
During the informal talks with journalists outside the court, Khawaja Saad said, “Maulana Fazlur Rehman is becoming the voice of the people, May Allah have mercy on Pakistan.”
The PML-N activists continued to try to create a chaos and the anti-riot forces stopped them from the route.
On the appearance of Khwaja Brothers’ in accountability court, Ferozepur Road was blocked with a container and strict security arrangements were made.
On September 3, court had indicted Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother Salman Rafique in the Paragon Housing Society case. The Khawaja brothers have been accused of embezzling nearly Rs2 billion.
In all previous hearings, their defense counsel had repeatedly maintained before the court that the details of banking transactions of the last ten years had been handed over to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
On April 26, the NAB Lahore had approved filing of a reference against the Khawaja brothers and Nadeem Zia for the alleged corruption.
