Chaudhry Brothers appear before NAB, Dar's sons skip summons

LAHORE: Former Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and his cousin former Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi – familiarly called as Chaudhry brothers – on Monday appeared before National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigators  in a graft case for possessing assets beyond their known sources of income.

The duo recorded their statements in the graft case before three-member NAB team.

The anti-corruption watchdog’s Lahore chapter had issued notices to Chaudhry brothers to appear before its investigators along with the details of their assets.

Chaudhry brothers were summoned in a case pertaining to misuse of their authorities, framed against them back in 2000 before they joined hands with former military ruler General Pervez Musharaf.

Talking to press after appearing before the NAB team, former Punjab CM Elahi said that he has assured the anti-graft body of appearing before its investigators.

He said his family was booked in as many as 135 cases during the PPP government and such cases were not new for him. He vowed to face the case against him while stating that he is not scared of investigation.

“I [had] faced three murder cases in my political life made with a malicious intent,” he further said.

It merits mentioning here that before joining General (retd) Musharaf’s govenment in early 2000, both cousins were associated with Sharif’s ruling party PML-N.

Shujaat had briefly assumed the office for Prime Minister in 2004 while Elahi served as the Chief Minister of Punjab from 2002 to 2007.

The graft case against Chaudhrys of Gujrat is also among the 179 mega corruption cases list, compiled and submitted in the Supreme Court by the anti-corruption watchdog in 2015.

According to sources, the brothers were involved in Rs 2.428 billion corruption case.

The case against them has been reopened at a time when anti-graft body has filed corruption references against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members, besides investigating high-profile scams.

Dar’s sons skip summons

The NAB had also summoned Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s family but none of his family members appeared before anti-graft body’s investigators.

According to a NAB spokesperson, Hasnain Dar and Ali Dar, sons of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, were summoned today to record their statements in the ongoing investigation against their father in a graft reference filed by the anti-graft body in compliance with Supreme Court orders.

The NAB has accused Dar of acquiring assets and pecuniary interests/resources in his name or in the name of his dependents of an approximate amount of Rs831.678 million as per the investigation conducted so far.

Sources said NAB will again send notices to Dar’s sons for appearance.