LAHORE: National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday filed a petition in an accountability court in Lahore seeking exemption from appearance in the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme reference.
However, incarcerated former premier Nawaz Sharif’s principal secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad, who reportedly became an approver in the case, and other suspects were produced before the court by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
“This case is wastage of time as our [PML-N’s] government had caught this [housing scheme] fraud,” Shehbaz Sharif had said during the previous hearing.
On the other hand, the anti-graft prosecutor had pleaded with the court to proceed with the case as “he [Shehbaz] had been wasting the court’s time.”
On February 18, accountability court Judge Syed Najmul Hassan had indicted ten suspects, including PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif in the case.
All the accused rejected the charges. The PML-N president had sworn that the case against him was false and affirmed to bring facts in front of the nation.
Fawad Hassan Fawad, in his statement before the accountability watchdog, had claimed that he had awarded a contract to a “favorite firm” in the mega housing project “at the behest of Shehbaz Sharif”.
On October 5, 2018, the NAB had arrested Shehbaz Sharif in the scam and was charged with awarding illegal contracts to his favorite firm. On February 15, LHC had ordered to release Shehbaz Sharif after approving his bail plea.
The NAB in the reference alleged that Sharif, being the chief minister of Punjab, misused his authority by assuming powers of the board of directors of Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC). It said that Sharif, in connivance with his accomplices, awarded the contract to a proxy firm that resulted in the failure of scheme causing a huge loss to the public exchequer.
