The acquittal pleas of Jang Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and two co-accused were rejected by an accountability court of Lahore on Wednesday.
The accountability court Judge Asad Ali presided over the case related to illegal allotment of plots involving Mir Shakil, former Lahore Development Authority (LDA) Director General Humayun Faiz, and former Director Land Development Mian Bashir Ahmed.
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Special Prosecutor Haris Qureshi appeared before the court.
The petitioners’ lawyer Amjad Pervez argued that there was no evidence of his clients reaping financial benefits from the allotment of plots.
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NAB prosecutor said the owner of Jang Group obtained 54 plots of one-kanal each in Johar Town in Lahore on exemption which was supported by then Punjab chief minister Nawaz Sharif.
The official said that the illegal allotment induced a loss of over Rs 140 million to the national treasury.
He maintained that the suspects filed the applications at an early stage as the evidence procured by them is yet to be examined by the trial court.
He informed the court that they have incriminating evidence against the suspects and pleaded with the court to reject the exoneration pleas.
After the conclusion of arguments, the accountability court rejected the acquittal pleas of Mir Shakil and two others and termed it non-maintainable.
NAB has been directed to present the witnesses in the case in the hearing on September 22.