ISLAMABAD: The incarcerated former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif allegedly made the directors of Chauhdry Latif and Sons contractors withdraw the contract through pressure, according to the documents concerning Ashiana Housing Scheme.
According to the documents, Shehbaz made the directors give up the contract of the scheme by threatening them of dire consequences if they didn’t award the multi-billion rupee contract to the company of his choice.
Various courts have decided in favour of Latif and Sons and declared Shehbaz’s directions illegal, the report said, claiming that a few media persons had launched a campaign against the company.
It was added that the company had previously executed several contracts, including those related to the motorway, Metro Bus, New Islamabad Airport, Karachi Green Line, water supply schemes, construction of bridges and some housing schemes. Shehbaz had also given contracts to the Latif and Sons during his previous tenure.
The documents said that the project was not cancelled rather Latif and Sons were put aside in the light of an agreement between the parties as the government contended that it had scarcity of funds required to complete the Ashiana scheme.
The clause of the agreement between the government and the company, which was a part of the documents, hinted that Shehbaz was satisfied with the performance of Latif and Sons.
According to the documents, the Shehbaz-led government in 2017 had renewed the license of the company and awarded many contracts to it worth billions of rupees, the documents said, adding that the company has also been coming up to the benchmark of the Pakistan Engineering Council regularly.
Shehbaz, in a bid to press Latif and Sons, was alleged of registering a case of mud theft of Rs 76,000 in Rajanpur district against them. The DPO concerned has conceded before the court that he had registered the case on the directives of the ex-CM, the report said.
ED NOTE: Though this new report is based on an official report, it does not not incorporate the versions of all parties concerned.
