Accused in Saaf Pani case sent on judicial remand

LAHORE: An accountability court in Lahore sent the accused in Saaf Pani company corruption scandal, Qamarul Islam, to prison on a judicial remand on Monday.

During the hearing, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) maintained that the accused is charged for illegally awarding the contract of 84 water treatment plants on exorbitant rates.

“A company named KSB Pumps was reportedly given this contract by Qamarul Islam,” NAB prosecutor added.

NAB stated that former chief executive officer of Punjab Saaf Pani company (PSPC) had been charged with tampering company documents upon bidding of the project.

He had also installed eight filtration plants in Tehsil Dunyapur unlawfully, NAB told the court.

NAB prosecutor added that the appointment of Waseem Ajmal as the CEO of Saaf Pani company was also not on merit.

The PSPC is currently being investigated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) after the Supreme Court (SC) found out in April that the company had taken Rs4 billion from the provincial exchequer but did not provide a single glass of clean water.

In 2017, the NAB had launched an investigation into the affairs of 56 public sector companies formed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shehbaz Sharif’s administration in Punjab for their alleged involvement in corruption.