LAHORE: An accountability court on Saturday issued notices to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on applications of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and former director general of the Lahore Development Authority Ahad Khan Cheema seeking their acquittal in Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme.

The acquittal applications filed through Advocate Amjad Pervez said all the approvers and the witnesses of the NAB had resiled from their earlier statements and there was no possibility of their conviction in the reference.

The applicants asked the court to allow the applications and acquit them of the charges.

Duty Judge Rao Abdul Jabbar issued notices to the NAB for submission of the replies by April 28.

At the last hearing, five prosecution witnesses rejected the allegations of corruption or illegality in the housing scheme project.

The witnesses include deputy commissioner Layyah Khalid Pervez, design specialist Hussain Ahmad, research analyst of LDA Shahid Kamran and Mahmood Ahmad Sulheri.

Previously, former chief engineer of the LDA Israr Saeed, who was an approver of the NAB, also resiled from his earlier statement.

“My previous statement was under duress,” Saeed had said responding to the questions of defence counsel during his cross-examination.

He claimed that then NAB Lahore director general Shahzad Saleem, director Muhammad Rafi and case officer Aftab Ahmad had threatened him to record a false statement against Shehbaz Sharif.

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In its reference, the NAB alleged that PM Shehbaz and other accused persons caused a huge loss to the national exchequer by awarding the contract of the housing scheme to a company without bidding.

Former principal secretary to prime minister Fawad Hassan Fawad, Kamran Kiyani, a brother of former army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kiani, and Nadeem Zia, one of the owners of Paragon City, are also accused in the reference.

PM Shehbaz was arrested on Oct 5, 2018, in Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme reference when he appeared before the NAB in Punjab Saaf Pani Company’s case.

The NAB had arrested Cheema on Feb 21, 2018, on charges of misusing his authority with criminal intent and awarding Rs14 billion contracts of Ashiana scheme.

It alleged that Cheema received illegal gratification in the form of 32 kanals of land from the owners of Paragon City Developers in reward for the contract of the housing scheme awarded to its proxy firm namely Bismillah Engineering. Cheema was released on bail after almost two years in jail.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2023