NAB overstepped its authority when it arrested Ahsan Iqbal, IHC rules

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday issued a detailed bail order in the Narowal Sports City Complex case against PML-N general secretary and former federal minister Ahsan Iqbal, ruling that the National Accountability Bureau overstepped its authority when it arrested him in 2019.

Iqbal's bail was granted in writing by Chief Justice Islamabad High Court Athar Minallah and Justice Lubna Saleem Pervez on February 25, 2020.

In the judgment, the court held that NAB failed to present evidence of corruption against Iqbal.

The court acknowledged that the project was started for the benefit of the people of Narowal, was approved by the authorised forum Central Development Working Party (CDWP) and that Iqbal did not benefit financially from the project.

It ruled that the records show that Iqbal has been voluntarily cooperating with the investigating officer at a time when the case has not been turned into an investigation yet. At the present stage of the inquiry, the petitioner is presumed innocent, the judgment observed.

In July 2018, NAB had begun the investigation of the complex that has been raised with a whopping Rs3,000 million.