LAHORE: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday arrested former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MPA and former head of the Lahore Parking Company (LPC) Hafiz Mian Noman, after his interim bail plea was dismissed by the Lahore High Court (LHC).
A division bench of the high court headed by Justice Muhammad Tariq and comprising Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf heard Hafiz Noman’s bail petition.
At the outset of proceedings, Noman, who was on interim bail till November 28, appeared before the bench.
The NAB lawyer argued regarding the irregularities in contracts of the parking company, adding that the bureau had initiated an inquiry into the matter. He submitted that the LPC was bound to develop parking sites on 246 places as per the contract with the city district government, but only 33 sites were functional.
He informed the bench that the anti-graft watchdog had also issued an arrest warrant against Noman because he was the head of the company whereas all other accused had already been arrested.
The counsel pleaded to the court to dismiss the bail plea of the accused so that NAB could arrest him for investigation.
Hafiz Noman’s lawyer, Asad Manzoor Butt, on the other hand, said that his client was offered an honorary position of the LPC chairman.
He said Noman never withdrew a single rupee from the company’s funds and all contracts of the company were awarded according to the rules. “The corruption charges against my client are bogus,” Butt said and added that Noman had fully cooperated with NAB during the investigation.
He submitted that NAB had failed to determine any liability against his client in the challan [charge-sheet] submitted to the trial court and requested an extension in Noman’s interim bail.
However, the court dismissed the plea, following which NAB officials arrested Noman from the court premises.
The bench also dismissed post-arrest bail petitions of LPC’s ex-CEO Taseer Ahmad and ex-MD Usman Qayyum.
