LAHORE: A Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench Thursday adjourned hearing of bail petitions, filed by former railways minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother former provincial minister Khawaja Salman Rafique in Paragon City case, till April 1.
The bench comprising Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan and Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf heard the post arrest bail petitions filed by Khawaja brothers.
During the proceedings, the bench was apprised that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed its reply to the bail petitions.
However, Advocate Amjad Pervaiz on behalf of Khawaja brothers sought time for submitting arguments, saying that the NAB had not provided him a copy of its reply yet.
At this, the bench directed the NAB prosecutor for providing a copy to the counsel and adjourned further hearing till April 1. The court directed counsel of parties to advance their arguments on the next hearing.
The brothers had submitted that they were arrested in connection with Paragon scam, though they extended full cooperation to NAB authorities in investigation and produced all relevant record.
They submitted that they did not have any link with Paragon and all charges levelled against them were baseless. They pleaded with the court to grant benefit of bail to them as investigations had been completed in the case and no more confinement was required.
The NAB arrested the Khawaja brothers on Dec 11, 2018 after the LHC had withdrawn the relief of pre-arrest bail they got for almost three months. An accountability court had sent them on judicial remand on Feb 2 last.
