LAHORE - The National Accountability Bureau took former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif to Islamabad on Thursday after an accountability court in Lahore approved his transit remand for seven days.

The NA speaker had issued production orders for Shehbaz Sharif for his presence in a session of the lower house of parliament beginning today.

Shehbaz Sharif, who is also PML-N president and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, was produced before the accountability court Judge Syed Najmul Hassan.

During the remand proceedings, the former chief minister claimed that he had not committed any corruption and that the NAB had not achieved anything from all the physical remands granted so far.

The NAB prosecutor responded to the assertion with the argument that he had been brought to the court for remand and not to discuss the merits of the case. The former chief minister also complained that despite court orders his family had not been allowed to meet him. Thereupon, NAB prosecutor Waris Ali Janjua said that no one had come to meet Shehbaz.

The court ordered the NAB director general (DG) allow Shehbaz to meet his family according to the law and added that a meeting should be arranged once a week. Also, the court ordered a medical checkup of the former chief minister.

Earlier, the NAB prosecutor submitted that National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser had issued production orders of Shehbaz Sharif for National Assembly session on November 23. He requested the court to grant transit remand of the former chief minister for the purpose. He further submitted that Shehbaz Sharif would be produced in concerned court on expiry of his physical remand on Nov 24, in response to a court query.

Strict security arrangements were made inside and outside the court premises on the occasion, besides deployment of anti-riot force.

Shehbaz Sharif was in custody of NAB since Oct 5 for his alleged involvement in Rs14 billion Ashiana Housing Scheme scam.

Senior bureaucrat Fawad Hassan Fawad and Lahore Development Authority (LDA) former director general Ahad Cheema and others had already been arrested in connection with the housing scam.

NAB launched an investigation into the scam in November last after receiving a number of complaints in this regard.