Accountability court judge Asad Ali delivered a safe verdict on the pleas of the accused in the illegal plot allotment reference.
In the decision, the accused Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman, former Director General of Lahore Development Authority (LDA) Humayun Faiz Rasool and former Director Land Development Bashir Ahmed’s pleas were accepted.
It may be recalled that Mir Shakeel was accused of allotting 58 kanals of land in Johar Town in the form of a joint block. Was accused of
Former DG LDA Humayun Faiz Rasool and former Director Land Development Bashir Ahmad were charged with aiding and abetting Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman.
In the case, the court declared PML-N leader Mian Nawaz Sharif a fugitive and ordered a separate trial after his arrest.
On March 12, 2020, the NAB arrested Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman in a land-related case, about eight months after he was released on bail by the Supreme Court.
On January 28, 2021, the court had indicted three accused, including Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman, in an illegal plot allotment reference.
However, the accused pleaded not guilty.
Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman had earlier filed a writ petition in the Lahore High Court but the court rejected the plea.
Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman Plot Allotment Case Background
It may be recalled that on March 12, 2020, Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman, Editor-in-Chief of Jang and Geo Group, was arrested by the National Accountability Office in a land related case.
It was reported by NAB spokesperson Nawazish Ali that the agency arrested Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman in Lahore in a case related to purchase of 54 plots.
It was also alleged that Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman appeared before the NAB for the second time on Thursday to answer NAB’s queries regarding the land but failed to convince the Bureau regarding the purchase of the land on which he was arrested. went.
According to NAB, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif illegally leased the land to Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman in 1986.
It may be recalled that according to the notice issued to Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman on February 28, he was evicted from the land allotted to him in 1986 by the then Punjab Chief Minister Nawaz Sharif in Block H of Johar Town Phase-2. The NAB was summoned on March 5 to record the statement.
On the other hand, according to a Jang Group spokesperson, the property was purchased 34 years ago, all the evidence of which was provided to the NAB, including documents meeting the legal requirements for taxes and duties.
Later, on November 9, 2020, after eight months of imprisonment, the Supreme Court granted bail to Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman, owner of Jang and Geo Group, arrested in an illegal plot allotment case, and ordered his release.