Court returns reference against ex-TEPA chief engineer to NAB

Lahore: Court returns reference against ex-TEPA chief engineer to NAB. An accountability court on Wednesday returned a reference to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against former Transport & Engineering Planning Agency (TEPA) chief engineer Mazhar Hussain Asif for amassing assets beyond known sources of income, over lack of jurisdiction.
The court directed the bureau to take up the matter with the relevant forum for further action. The court held that the matter did not fall under its jurisdiction as per the amended National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 2022.
Accountability Court Judge Zubair Shahzad Kiyani passed the orders while deciding an application, filed by the accused challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the matter.
The accused had filed the application under the amended NAO, saying that the accountability court was not empowered to hear any reference involving an amount below Rs 500 million, under the amended law. He submitted that the reference amount was below Rs 500 million and it did not fall in the court jurisdiction.
NAB had filed a reference against Mazhar Hussain Asif and his co-accused Anjum Zeeshan, nephew of Mazhar Hussain, on the charge of amassing assets through corrupt means.