ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Accountability Court approved on Wednesday two-day transit remand for PML-N leader Khawaja Asif. NAB has been ordered to immediately present him before the relevant court.
Asif, a former defence minister, was arrested on Tuesday on four charges, including owning more assets than his reported income can justify, providing false sources of income and accumulating undue assets while in public office.
Judge Muhammad Bashir heard the case.
According to NAB, Asif hid his illegally gained assets by transferring them to other people’s names. In 1991 he had assets worth Rs5.1 million but in 2018 they were worth Rs221 million.
Before the 2018 general election, the Islamabad High Court had disqualified Asif for holding a foreign iqama (work permit) but the Supreme Court had overturned the order and allowed him to contest the election. He was elected an MNA from NA-73 Sialkot.
The NAB chairperson had ordered the inquiry against Asif after it emerged that the sources of income he provided in his official documents was not the actual source of his assets.
He was summoned for a second time by NAB after he failed to satisfy it regarding his assets. A warrant for his arrest was issued as part of the investigation after which he was arrested.
The PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz vowed that there would be a reaction to Asif’s arrest.
“Now, you have arrested the PML-N parliamentary leader,” Maryam said. “Do you fear that the PML-N is going to resign and Khawaja Asif can play a better role in it?”
She said such tactics would not work because she had already received resignations of PML-N MPAs and MNAs.
The PML-N leader warned that such moves would only expedite the government’s departure.
