LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau on Thursday arrested former Planning and Development Punjab chairman Suleman Ghani in Chiniot mines case.

According to officials, Suleman Ghani being chairman P&D Punjab and member of board of Punjab Mineral Development Corporation (Punjmin) “deliberately did not raise any objection on decision made by the board in its 69th meeting to hold negotiation and draft MoU with M/s ERPL for joint venture agreement of iron ore deposits in Chiniot to render favour to the company of accused Arshad Waheed.

“Suleman Ghani with malafide intention endorsed the proposed summary of joint venture of M/s ERPL with Punjmin for the approval of CM Punjab despite the fact that Punjmin was not authorised to make agreement with a private company as per its Act,” an official said and added that Ghani portrayed the proposed joint venture agreement as a very good opportunity by commenting that the proposal of the department would bring value to the exploitation of minerals in the province without proper scrutiny and analysis of the proposal in the section.

“Suleman Ghani was given fair chance to explain the allegations levelled against him however he failed to submit any plausible reply,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2019