Ashiana scam: NAB granted 10-day physical remand of Shehbaz

• Former Punjab CM denies allegations as ‘baseless’, calls cases against him ‘politically motivated’
• Shehbaz’s counsel says no need for remand as scam based on documentary evidence
• Marriyum warns govt against political victimisation

LAHORE: An accountability court in Lahore on Saturday sent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif on a 10-day physical remand in Ashiana Iqbal Housing scam case.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), earlier, appealed for a 15-day physical remand of the former Punjab chief minister.

After the judgement by the accountability court, Shehbaz was shifted to NAB Lahore office where he will be further cross-questioned by the monetary watchdog.

Earlier in the day, the PML-N president, who was arrested by NAB in Ashiana Housing scheme on Friday, was produced before accountability Judge Najmul Hassan.

Shehbaz was represented by Amjad Pervez and Azam Nazeer.

When Judge Najmul Hassan reached the court, numerous workers of PML-N were present owing to which the judge summoned NAB prosecutor and Shehbaz’s lawyers in his chamber.

As the hearing inside the judge’s chamber started, the NAB prosecutor requested that Shehbaz be sent on a physical remand stating that former CM cancelled the contract awarded to M/s Ch A Latif & Sons for the infrastructure development of Ashiana Iqbal Housing Project and awarded it to CASA, a proxy group of Paragon City Private Limited, causing a loss of Rs193 billion to the national exchequer.

“Shehbaz Sharif misused his powers and his actions caused huge losses to the national exchequer,” NAB prosecutor said, adding that PML-N president needs to be further investigated in the case.

The PML-N president, however, denied the allegations as “baseless and false” as his lawyers opposed NAB’s request of physical remand.

“I did not do anything illegal,” the PML-N president said, adding that he worked for the prosperity of the country.

“We recovered millions from those who looted the country and deposited the recoveries in the national treasury,” he added.

The PML-N president then requested that the hearing not be held in the chambers following which Judge Hasan resumed it in the open court.

‘CASE ON POLITICAL BASIS’: 

In his statement to the court, Sharif said that the case was made against him on a “political basis”.

Rejecting NAB’s claim that he caused a huge loss to the national exchequer, the opposition leader in the National Assembly said that he saved billion through intervention in a personal capacity.

“I saved Rs75 billion in Orange Line Train project,” he claimed.

The PML-N president further said that he sacrificed his sleep and health to work day and night to serve the nation. “I have not done corruption worth a single penny,” Sharif asserted.

In a bid to justify cancellation of the contract by Shehbaz, his counsel Amjad Pervez argued that Chaudhry Latif is an absconder in an anti-corruption case. “In one case, Chaudhry Latif’s company is blacklisted.”

Following the hearing, Shehbaz was sent back to the NAB office — where he had spent the previous night — in an armoured vehicle amid tight security.

Moreover, the order issued by judge Najmul Hasan stated that Shehbaz’s counsel opposed the NAB’s application for his client’s ‘physical remand’ contending that the scam was based on documentary evidence, and that his client had been cooperating in the investigation.

The court observed that this was the first physical remand of the accused and he had been served with grounds of arrest. “Being white collar crime of mega corruption, the hidden aspects still have to be unearthed by joining the accused in the investigation so the application is allowed.”

Approving Shehbaz’s remand, the court ordered the PML-N president to be produced in court on October 16.

‘POLITICAL VICTIMISATION’:

Speaking to the media persons outside the accountability court, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said that Shehbaz’s arrest was the worst form of political victimisation.

“He was asked to appear before NAB and record his statement in the Saaf Pani Company case, but he was arrested in Ashiana Iqbal Housing Scheme case,” she added.

“Corruption of not even a single rupee could be proven against the PML-N president,” she added.

Stating that PTI was resorting to such tactics as they could not “defeat PML-N in the political arena”, Aurangzeb said, “We will not accept revenge in the name of accountability.”

“The government had thought that PML-N would break, that Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif will be separated,” she said. “They thought, and they tried, that a forward block be formed in the party.”

Marriyum warned that Shehbaz’s arrest can give rise to turmoil, adding that reaction of the people of Punjab being witnessed was bound to occur due to the steps taken by the government.

BROUGHT IN ARMOURED CAR: 

NAB authorities brought Shehbaz Sharif in an armoured vehicle to the court that was escorted by police mobiles, ambulance and fire brigade.

Former CM’s sons, Hamza Shebaz and Salman Shehbaz, were the only ones allowed inside the court. Meanwhile, PML-N leaders Khurram Dastgir, Saira Afzal Tarar and Marriyum Aurangzeb remained outside as they were not granted the entry.

Heavy contingents of police, including anti-riot force, were deployed around the accountability court ahead of Shehbaz’s appearance and the roads leading to the court were also blocked.

Further, the entry of unrelated individuals and media persons were barred inside the court.

Several PML-N supporters and workers gathered outside the court and raised slogans in favour of the party president. The workers also created a ruckus, when the armoured vehicle carrying Shehbaz reached the court.

Party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb and Pervez Malik protested with other PML-N workers gathered outside the court building as early as 7am.

PML-N IN HOT WATER: 

PML-N, after a period of brief relief, is in hot water again after its president and former Punjab chief minister, Shehbaz Sharif was arrested by the NAB for his alleged involvement in the Rs14 billion Ashiana Housing scam.

Shehbaz, who is also the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, was kept in a highly-secured lock-up inside the NAB Lahore office until his appearance in court.

The PML-N president was detained by NAB officials after he appeared before the bureau in the Saaf Pani Company scam case at around 2:55pm on Friday. The news of his arrest emerged around 3:35pm after his car was sent away. His private staff who accompanied him as security were also sent away.

NAB sources said that Shehbaz was arrested after former top bureaucrat Fawad Hasan Fawad told the anti-graft watchdog that he carried out corrupt activities in projects in Punjab at Shehbaz’s behest. In the investigation that followed, Fawad and Shehbaz appeared together, during which the latter said that he would bring proof.

Subsequently, NAB granted time to Shehbaz to gather proof, but he could not produce anything. Therefore, the anti-graft body summoned him on Friday in the Saaf Pani Company case, which is one of the 56 companies being investigated for mass corruption.

NAB has alleged that as chief minister of Punjab, Shehbaz transferred the Ashiana Scheme project from Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC) to Lahore Development Authority (LDA), ordered for the project to be transferred back from LDA to PLDC, illegally ordered for the project to be transferred to Paragon Housing Society and then kept it in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode, interfered in board affairs and took measures in violation of the law, and illegally cancelled the contract of Lateef & Sons contractors in 2013.

The arrest of Shehbaz at a time when by-polls are around the corner has raised many an eyebrow. The erstwhile ruling party has called out the anti-graft body for its anti-PML-N bias repeatedly in the past, especially after the bureau initiated a probe against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family, in the wake of the Panama Leaks.

Many had linked the arrest of the Sharifs and other PML-N leaders in separate cases, namely Raja Qamarul Islam and Hanif Abbasi from Rawalpindi, in July ahead of general elections as a ploy to deny a level-playing field to the party on July 25.