The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan’s premier anti-corruption authority, has investigated allegations of illegal land encroachment by Aleem Khan’s housing society.
Khan, a prominent figure in Pakistani politics, currently serves as the President of the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP).
The decision to close the case came from the NAB’s executive board and was in line with Section 31-B (1) of the National Accountability (Amendment) Act, 2022.
During the investigation, the NAB had argued that the transformation of agricultural land into an urban settlement, as purportedly undertaken by Khan’s housing society, needed formal authorization, a requirement that the project allegedly did not meet.
Continued Investigation Into Aleem Khan’s Assets
Despite closing the encroachment case, the NAB has made it clear that the investigation into Khan’s alleged possession of assets beyond his known sources of income remains ongoing.
Khan, formerly affiliated with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was arrested in February 2019 concerning the assets investigation. At the time of his arrest, he served as a provincial minister in the PTI-led government, having been elected from PP-158 (Lahore-XV) in the 2018 general elections.
He held significant roles as Punjab’s senior minister for local government, community development, planning, and development and was responsible for leading the party’s 100-day agenda by then-Prime Minister Imran Khan.
However, internal disputes with Imran Khan-led to his departure from PTI. Aleem Khan’s political career took a turn in June when Jahangir Khan Tareen, the founder of the Istihkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), appointed him as the president of the newly formed party, which has since become a haven for most of the PTI’s defectors.