Lahore court allows NAB to close inquiry against Shehbaz Sharif in illegal allotment of plots case

LAHORE: An accountability court in Lahore on Wednesday granted the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) plea to close a two-decade-old inquiry against Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif in connection with the alleged illegal allotment of 12 plots.

Judge Jawadul Hassan announced this verdict after hearing arguments of the NAB prosecutor, reported ARY News.

The NAB shelved the inquiry pending for the past 20 years for want of evidence.

The prosecutor said all relevant record was completely gutted due to a fire engulfing the building of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA). There is no evidence to corroborate charges against Shehbaz Sharif, he added.

Moreover, the bureau said, two people, Mian Attaullah and Mian Raza Attauallah, named in the inquiry have passed away, according to ARY News.

The former Punjab chief minister had been accused of allotting 12 plots to his favourite persons. Lahore NAB had initiated the inquiry against Shehbaz and others in 2000.

When NAB launched an investigation, orders were issued for cancellation of plots.

In September, Sharif was arrested in a money laundering case from the Lahore High Court, according to Gulf News.

The NAB officials took him into custody from the premises after his bail plea was rejected on account of alleged money-laundering and maintaining assets beyond known sources of income, it added.