LAHORE: Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on Monday appeared before an accountability court and attended the hearing of corruption reference of Punjab Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme.

The court adjourned the hearing till Dec 13 as a prosecutor of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) sought time to file replies to the applications of co-suspects in the reference.

Shehbaz told the court that the NAB had approached the Supreme Court for cancellation of his bail in the reference. He said the bureau had to withdraw its appeal after the apex court gave remarks in his favour.

The PML-N president said the apex court observed that he protected the rights of the masses of Punjab province.

Other suspects in the reference include former principal secretary to prime minister Fawad Hassan Fawad and LDA former director general Ahad Cheema.

The NAB alleged that the Punjab Land Development Company signed a contract in 2015 but failed to complete the low-cost housing project despite the lapse of three years. It said Cheema, being head of the LDA, awarded Rs14 billion contract to a joint venture led by Lahore Casa Company in violation of rules. It said a contract above Rs150 million could not be given to any company without bidding.

The bureau also alleged that Bismillah Engineering of Shahid Shafiq was a proxy firm working on behalf of the Paragon City Developers (Pvt) Ltd.

It accused Cheema of receiving illegal gratification in the form of 32 kanals of land from the owners of Paragon developers.

It accused Shehbaz of misusing his authority being chief minister and getting cancelled the contract of M/s Chaudhry Abdul Latif & Sons.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2021