NAB seeks details of assets, source of income from Punjab CM
Sources said that details regarding foreign trips have also been sought from Punjab CM Usman Buzdar.
LAHORE (Dunya News) – The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Saturday sought details of salary, movable and immovable properties, source of income and utility bills from Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar in liquor license case.
Dunya News has obtained the questionnaire sent to the Punjab CM.
Sources said that details regarding foreign trips have also been sought from Punjab CM Usman Buzdar, while details of inherited property were also sought.
Usman Bazdar has also been asked about details regarding gas, electricity, telephone and mobile phone bills and the number of employees.
The anti-graft watchdog has requested that all details of assets purchased, leased or received in the form of auctions and gifts be provided. The bureau also asked the chief minister to provide details of when and to whom the assets which were not owned by Usman Bazdar were sold.
Sources further said that CM Buzdar was also asked to provide his personal bank accounts, family members or credit cards in his name, loans and other details.
On Wednesday, the chief minister appeared before a Combined Investigation Team (CIT) of the National Accountability Bureau in Lahore without security and protocol.
"I appeared before NAB in personal capacity while fulfilling the legal requirements. I presented my point of view about facts in the matter of the issuance of license," the CM said, referring to allegations of corruption involving liquor permits to a local hotel. He asserted that he would visit the NAB whenever summoned. "We believe in respect of constitutional bodies as no one is above the law in the new Pakistan. I have set a tradition of accepting the supremacy of the law by presenting before the NAB and I have also presented my point of view before the special commission and the court," he added.
The CM regretted that hooliganism and lawlessness were demonstrated before NAB office on Tuesday.
The anti-graft agency had received a complaint that Usman Buzdar had misused his powers to issue liquor licenses.
The Lahore bureau received an application against the issuance of a liquor license to a private hotel against the law and regulations. As per NAB documents, the private hotel applied to the Excise Department for an L-2 category license for the sale of liquor.
Notably, the Excise and Taxation Department granted licence to the hotel in question in 2019 in violation of the CM Policy 2009 and without registration of the hotel from the Department of Tourist Services Punjab, they said.
