LAHORE: An accountability court has issued a directive to the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) to resolve complaints concerning Paragon City. This development follows a decision by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to clear former federal minister Khwaja Saad Rafiq, his brother Khawaja Salman, and others in a reference related to the housing scheme.
A special NAB prosecutor submitted a report to the court, stating that no violations under the National Accountability Ordinance of 1999 had been identified among the suspects mentioned in the reference. The report emphasized that allegations of corruption were not substantiated against the Khwaja brothers. As a result, it was deemed unnecessary to proceed with the reference.
The report further noted that Paragon City had received approval from Aziz Bhatti Town. Additionally, it indicated that only eight individuals had filed complaints against the housing scheme, as the majority of affected parties had already received their allotted plots.
Consequently, the court, based on NAB's report, referred the matter to the LDA, instructing them to address the complaints lodged against Paragon City.
Recently, NAB reopened the reference after amendments to the ordinance, introduced by the previous coalition government, were invalidated by the Supreme Court. On March 29, 2023, the trial court returned the Paragon reference to the NAB chairman for presentation in a competent court following the new legal amendments.
The NAB initially filed the reference against the Khwaja brothers during the tenure of Imran Khan's government, accusing them of illegally gaining approximately PKR 18.2 million from M/s Paragon City (pvt) Limited. The bureau alleged that the accused individuals, along with their accomplices, defrauded the general public and unlawfully profited from the funds of the illicit society.
The Khwaja brothers were arrested by the NAB on December 11, 2018, after the Lahore High Court declined to further extend their pre-arrest bail. They remained in NAB's custody for a period of three months.