Shehbaz Sharif appears before NAB court in Ashiana Housing scandal
Last updated on: 24 October,2019 03:43 pm
PML-N leader said that he has not committed any corruption.
LAHORE (Dunya News) – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Opposition Leader in National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif has appeared before the accountability court in Ashiana Housing case today (Thursday).
During the hearing, the PML-N leader said that he has not committed any corruption and the cases against him are filed for political revenge. Time of nation and court is being wasted on such kind of cases, he added. Judge Amjad Nazeer Chaudhry responded that the reality will be unveiled after completion of trial.
Shehbaz Sharif further requested the court for exemption from the case hearings due to severe backache. I face difficulty in appearing before the court due to pain, he told.
The judge remarked that decision on the exemption plea of PML-N president will be taken after recording testimonies.
On October 5, 2018, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme scam for awarding illegal contracts to his favorite firm. However, in February 2019, Lahore High Court (LHC) had accepted Shehbaz’s request for bail in Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme and Ramzan Sugar Mills cases. The anti-corruption watchdog had claimed that the company did not conduct any kind of survey but nevertheless was provided a lucrative sum of Rs 1.5 billion. Ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s principal secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad became an approver in the case.
Fawad Hassan Fawad, in his statement before NAB, had claimed that he had awarded a contract to a “favourite firm” in the Rs14 billion Ashiana Housing project at the behest of Shahbaz Sharif. NAB stated that the contract for the housing scheme was won by a construction company titled Chaudhry Latif and Sons but Sharif cancelled it and later on, awarded the contract to Lahore Casa Developers – a proxy group of Paragon City (Pvt) Limited, which is said to be owned by ex-Railways Minister Saad Rafique”.