NAB summons ex-minister Zaeem Qadri in Saaf Pani scam

0
208

LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Sunday issued summons to former provincial minister Zaeem Hussain Qadri in Punjab Saaf Pani Company scandal for June 27.

According to details, Qadri has been summoned in the corruption inquiry because he himself, his wife and other family members were appointed as the board of directors of the company.

Media reports had previously claimed that the probe relating to land grabbing against the disgruntled PML-N leader had been stopped and the NAB chief would soon issue his directives in this regard.

In a press conference on Friday, Qadri had lashed out at his own party for not issuing him an election ticket.

Earlier, the anti-graft watchdog had ordered PML-N head Shehbaz Sharif to appear before the bureau’s Lahore office on June 25 after he the inquiry. He had instead sent a representative who submitted written answers to the questions.

In May, NAB issued a notice to Shehbaz, directing him to appear before a combined investigation team of NAB Lahore in connection with the affairs of the Saaf Pani Company. According to NAB officials, Shehbaz was summoned because he, in his capacity of the provincial head, had approved the alleged illegal projects being run by the company.

In November 2017, NAB had launched a thorough probe into alleged corruption in the 56 public-sector companies formed by then Punjab CM Shehbaz Sharif. These companies are accused of certain irregularities, recruitment in violation of procurement rules and merit, nepotism, and non-completion of various projects in time.