LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has resumed hearing on the petition against the arrest of Jang Geo Group Chief Editor Inchef Mir Shakeel ur Rehman, completing his arguments in connection with the ongoing National Accountability Bureau. (NAB) is investigating a 34-year-old property case against his client.

A two-member bench of the court is hearing the plea, which relates to the arrest and extension of the senior editor of Pakistan’s largest media group, on remand.

During his argument, Barrister Ahsan told the LHC that his client was arrested ahead of time.

The lawyer argues that “the arrest was made [against my client] at the inquiry stage of the complaint, which is illegal.”

He said that the entire case could be resolved with the relevant documents and that all the records were available with the Lahore Development Authority.

Ahsan noted, “[Instead of], the NAB has done nothing for 20 years.

Ahsan further argued, “The matter also does not fall under the jurisdiction of the NAB.”

Ahsan further requested that his client be of old age and should be released on bail.

In connection with the previous court orders, Special Prosecutor Syed Faisal Raza Bukhari presented NAB’s answer to the Lahore High Court’s questions.

The court then adjourned the hearing till April 7, ordering NAB to give the fresh responses.

Meanwhile, MSR is on transit remand when it was allowed to go to Karachi to bury Mir Javed-ur-Rehman, publisher of his older brother and Jang Group, who died on Tuesday after battling lung cancer.

Earlier, the NAB had said that MSR would be allowed to visit his brother when he was critically ill, but it took too long to implement the allowance and the meeting never took place.
After Mir Javed-ur-Rehman’s death, the transit remand was finally approved.

Arrest on trump up charges
MSR was arrested earlier this month on allegations of property purchase trips more than three decades ago. An application was filed shortly against the arrest.

The accountability court then extended his physical remand, after which a separate application was filed against the extension. It was held in the petition that the court did not provide any reason for an extension of the remand.

The original application, filed by MSR’s wife Shaheena Shakeel, stated that MSR was cooperating with officers and against the publication of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for arresting accountability. Is violated.

The petition requested that the court declare the arrest and misuse of the powers of the NAB chairman, as the arrest was made while the matter was being verified.
The petition further alleges that the NAB arrested MSR and violated the 2019 businessman policy presented by the government of Pakistan.

It further stated that the extension of the MSR’s remand should be rejected by the accountability court hearing the case, as well as rejecting its arrest verdict.

The NAB March 12 arrested MSR more than three decades ago in connection with a property illegally purchased by a government entity.

According to a Jang Group spokesman, the property was actually purchased from a private party 34 years ago and all its evidence was given to the NAB and fulfilled legal requirements such as duty and tax.

The arrest of MSR has been hailed as the latest attempt to suppress distrust by a heavy-handed government globally and internationally.

Correction: An earlier version of this story erroneously stated that the NAB did not provide a questionnaire to Mir Shakeel al-Rahman in connection with an investigation into a private property case. Sorry for the mistake.