LNG case: IHC extends Miftah Ismail's interim bail till August 7
IHC extended the interim bail of Miftah Ismail till Aug 7.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday extended the interim bail of former Finance Minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Miftah Ismail and former Managing Director of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Sheikh Imran-ul-Haq in the LNG case till August 7.
Acting Chief Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb presided over the case. The IHC expressed anger over the miscellaneous application filed yesterday by Miftah Ismail to submit further documents and remarked why documents weren’t submitted earlier.
Justice Amir Farooq remarked that a strange process has started where six different misc applications are being filed. Meanwhile, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) submitted a response on the interim bail petition of Miftah Ismail where the IHC extended it till August 7.
On July 25, Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday granted interim bail to PML-N leader Miftah Ismail till August 1 in LNG case. The court ordered former finance minister to submit surety bonds of Rs 5 lacs.
As per details, IHC barred NAB from arresting Miftah Ismail. The court also granted bail to ex-MD PSO Shiekh Imran and issued notices to NAB in this regard.
The lawyer of Miftah told the court that NAB issued warrants first and then summoned in the LNG case.
Earlier, former finance minister Miftah Ismail submitted an application for pre-arrest bail at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) import contract case.
In his petition, the PML-N leader requested the Islamabad High Court to stop the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from arresting him until the investigation is completed. The politician argued that the accountability watchdog has leveled allegations against him when there is ‘not even an iota of any evidence’ of wrongdoing in LNG case.
Miftah named NAB Chairman Javed Iqbal, the investigator and law secretary as respondents in his petition. Arguing that NAB has charged baseless charges against him, the former minister requested the IHC to grant him pre-arrest bail.
NAB has already issued arrest warrants of Miftah Ismail and Sheikh Imran Ul Haq in LNG case.
It is pertinent to mention here that the PML-N leader has already been granted pre-arrest bail by the Sindh High Court (SHC) for 7 days. His pre-arrest bail given by SHC will end this week.
Meanwhile IHC accepted the application of Miftah Ismail for hearing. A two member bench including Justice Mian Gull Hassan Aurangzeb and acting Chief justice of IHC Justice Amir Farooq heard the case on July 25.
Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is already in NAB’s custody in the LNG import contract case.
Case Background
The apex court on September 10, 2018 had directed the NAB to complete the inquiry against former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Miftah Ismail and others for the alleged corruption in the LNG contract.
As the minister for petroleum and natural resources, he has been accused of granting contract on LNG Terminal to ETPL, Tri-partial agreement, LSA with EETPL and LNG import from Qatar etc.
In June 2018, the NAB approved inquiry against former premier Nawaz Sharif and Abbasi, who was the former minister for petroleum and natural resources at that time, in granting contract of LNG terminal for 15 years to their ‘favourite’ company.
It was also observed that this contract had allegedly caused a loss of billions of rupees to the national exchequer.
In January, the NAB interrogated former finance minister Miftah Ismail in the same case.
According to NAB documents, the contract for the LNG import and distribution was awarded to the Elengy Terminal, a subsidiary of Engro, in 2013 in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and relevant laws.
