News Desk |
The Lahore High Court on Thursday, February 14, 2019, has granted bail to PMLN Chief and Opposition leader of the national assembly Mian Shahbaz Sharif.
The former CM Punjab has been granted bail in the Ashiyana Housing case and the Ramzan Sugar Mills case. Shahbaz was arrested in October 2018 while he was under inquisition for Saaf Pani scandal, GVS had earlier reported.
The PML-N President is the eighth accused person to be arrested in the case. In February 2018, NAB had arrested Lahore Development Authority’s former director general Ahad Khan Cheema. Within a few days of Cheema’s arrest, the bureau also arrested Bilal Qidwani, Imtiaz Haider, Shahid Shafiq, Sardar Saeed, and Arif Butt. Shahbaz Sharif’s wife Tehmina Janjua had visited him in prison and accused NAB of maltreating the former CM.
NAB also conducted a raid at the house of Fawad and found laptops, USBs and other evidence. During investigations, it was found that he also had assets beyond his means.
During the investigations, NAB found that Cheema had abused his authority in awarding the contract to Casa Developers, a company that was not eligible for the project according to the Public-Private Partnership Act in return for a bribe of 32 kanals of land.
NAB, last year, also arrested former principal secretary to PM Nawaz Sharif Fawad Hassan Fawad, who served as implementation secretary of the project at the time of its launch. The accountability bureau leveled accusations of him issuing orders of awarding the contract to Chaudhry Latif and Sons, out of merit.
He was also accused of covering up an investigation conducted by then finance secretary Tariq Bajwa to enquire the matter of suspension of the award of the contract.
Read more: Supporters clash with police as Shahbaz arrives at AC
NAB also conducted a raid at the house of Fawad and found laptops, USBs and other evidence. During investigations, it was found that he also had assets beyond his means.
In the hearing today, NAB apprised court that Fawad Hassan Fawad owns a plaza in Rawalpindi worth Rs5 billion and 14 benami accounts. LHC granted bail to Fawad in the case pertaining to Ashiyana Housing Scheme but rejected bail in assets beyond means case.
The leader of the opposition, Shahbaz Sharif was appointed the Chairman of the Public accounts committee while in NAB’s custody by the national assembly and had been produced by NAB for multiple sessions on the orders of the Speaker National assembly.
Read more: No respite for Shahbaz: NAB arrests him in Ramzan Sugar Mills…
In January 2019, Shahbaz Sharif’s Islamabad residence was declared sub-jail and he was shifted there for the remainder of his remand.