LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif on Friday appeared before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in assets beyond means case.
During the hearing, the accountability watchdog grilled the former Punjab chief minister and asked to present a money trail for establishing Chaudhry Sugar Mills. The bureau also interrogated Shehbaz about the shares and other partners in Chaudhry Sugar Mills.
During the hearing, Shahbaz said that the government was wasting the time of the judiciary and the people of Pakistan with the fake case of sewerage drain which has no truth to it.
“In 2014, I was under tremendous pressure from sugar mill owners to reduce the minimum price of sugarcane because I had set the CPR at Rs 180 while it was Rs 160 in Sindh,” the ex-chief minister said, adding he suffered a loss of billions but did not flinch one bit because he had pledged that he would not allow the exploitation of sugarcane farmers.
Shehbaz said that because of his initiative Sindh too had to raise the price of sugarcane to Rs 172 where the government chose to pay the additional Rs 12 through subsidy through the mill owners.
Shehbaz told that no matter the massive pressure put on him from very influential quarters and the Sugar Mills Association he said he would resign over the stance but would not sell the farmers out. He told that he sympathised with the mill owners but told them there was nothing he could do.
In addition, the PML-N president has been directed to appear before the bureau on July 12 in cases pertaining to assets beyond means and Chaudhry Sugar Mills. The NAB will question him for his alleged role in the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) scam.
According to NAB sources, Nusrat Shehbaz, first wife of Shehbaz Sharif, owned assets worth Rs 225.6 million while his second wife, Tehmina Durrani owned assets worth Rs 5.7 million in Pakistan.
The former Punjab chief minister is currently facing two corruption references filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).