LAHORE   -    An accountability court on Thursday returned a plot allotment reference against former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and others to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The court held that the matter did not fall under its jurisdiction as per amended National Account­ability Ordinance (NAO). 

Accountability Court Judge Rao Abdul Jabbar passed the orders while disposing of seven differ­ent applications, filed by Yousaf Abbas and other relatives of Nawaz Sharif, against auction of assets, owned by the former prime minister.

Yousaf Abbas and others had filed applications, stating that the court declared Nawaz Sharif as an absconder over non-appearance in the matter and ordered to auction his properties. They submitted that their rights would also be affected if the prop­erties of the former premier were auctioned. They submitted that after the new amendment, the case did not fall within the jurisdiction of NAB and the accountability court, as the amount involved in the reference was less than Rs 500 million