Mir Shakil remanded in NAB's custody for 12 days

An accountability court in Lahore on Friday granted the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) 12-day physical remand of Jang Group's Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakilur Rahman in a property case.

The court had originally granted NAB an 11-day physical remand but extended it by a day when Rahman's counsel Aitizaz Ahsan said that he would not be available for proceedings on March 24.

Rahman was arrested by the anti-corruption watchdog yesterday when he appeared before NAB in a 34-year-old case related to 54-kanal land he allegedly acquired “illegally” in the tenure of thenchief minister of Punjab Nawaz Sharif.

During the hearing today, Ahsan vehemently opposed NAB's request for physical remand, saying that NAB's "attitude towards Shakilur Rahman is based on maliciousness".

Ahsan termed his client's arrest a day earlier as "illegal", arguing that Rahman was cooperating with the accountability watchdog. "Mir Shakilur Rahman is not running anywhere but NAB did not hear his stance and arrested him," Ahsan said. "[PML-N's] Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was arrested by NAB in the same manner.

"Yesterday, Rahman had brought the answers of questions asked by NAB. He was arrested illegally," the defence lawyer declared, adding that Rahman was taken into custody because he "criticises, which is his right".

"How did the NAB chairman issue the arrest warrants without even looking at Mir Shakilur Rahman's case file?" Ahsan questioned. The NAB prosecutor countered Ahsan's arguments by insisting that Rahman was arrested "after fulfilling legal requirements".

After his appearance before the NAB team in Lahore last week, Rahman had said he had bought the land in question from a private party and no illegality had been committed in this respect.