NAB to challenge Fawad Hasan's bail in top court

LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) says it will challenge a Lahore High Court (LHC) order granting bail to Fawad Hasan Fawad, a former principal secretary to two ex-prime ministers implicated in an assets beyond means case. 

On Tuesday, the LHC granted bail to the former bureaucrat against bonds worth Rs10 million after staying in NAB custody for almost 19 months.

Chairman NAB has already issued orders for the anti-graft watchdog to challenge the ex-principal secretary's bail in the Supreme Court.

The anti-graft watchdog had filed two separate cases against Fawad, who served as principal secretary to former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi when he was elected to the post after Nawaz Sharif's disqualification.

Read more: LHC grants bail to ex-principal secretary to PM Fawad Hasan Fawad

According to NAB, a construction company titled Chaudhry Latif and Sons had won the Ashiana housing scheme contract. However, the NAB says then-Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif and his aides awarded the Rs14 billion contract to the Lahore Casa Developers — a proxy group of Paragon City (Pvt) Limited which is said to be owned by former railways minister Saad Rafique.

Fawad — who was implementation secretary to the chief minister Punjab at the time — had levelled charges of wrongdoing against Chaudhry Latif and Sons allegedly for the contract to be awarded to Casa Developers.

Read more: Accountability court approves 14-day physical remand of Fawad Hasan Fawad

In a second reference, filed in March last year, the NAB had accused Fawad of accumulating illegal assets worth Rs1.09 billion, including a five-kanal commercial plot in Rawalpindi's Saddar area valued at around Rs50 million.

The former senior civil servant has not been proven guilty or convicted in any case and has been in the NAB custody since May 31, 2018.

Fawad has previously served as secretary implementation, Punjab health secretary, and additional secretary for Prime Minister’s Office.