PHC grants pre-arrest bail to Safdar Awan in assets case

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday granted pre-arrest bail to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Captain (retired) Safdar Awan in assets beyond known sources of income case.

PHC bench headed by Justice Lal Jan announced the verdict, which was postponed on May 22 due to the non-appearance of Safdar Awan.

Last month, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) green-lighted further probe into  Safdar Awan case as a letter directs investigation of assets owned by himself and his family members.

NAB Lahore wrote to Lahore Development Authority, Deputy Commissioner office, and the Cooperatives Department of Punjab to collect all the details into assets owned by any of Safdar’s family members including himself.

There is a total of nine people of the Safdar family on the NAB radar including Maryam Nawaz, Mehr Un Nisa, Raheel, Junaid, Mahnoor, while his father Muhammad Ishaq, mother Hajra Begum, Muhammad Sajjad, Tahir Ali as well.

The accountability watchdog’s Lahore chapter had also written to various other institutions to accumulate data and details on their assets in the form of plazas, houses, plots, and shops in all residential and commercial lands.