Shehbaz among 10 accused acquitted in Ashiana housing reference

An accountability court in Lahore on Saturday acquitted 10 individuals, including PML-N leader and former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in 2018. The reference accused Shehbaz of misusing authority during his tenure as Punjab chief minister in the execution of a low-cost housing scheme. Last year, NAB found "no evidence" of corruption in the contract for the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Society, launched in 2010 in Lahore. Today, the accountability court considered the acquittal pleas of Shehbaz and the other nine individuals named in the graft reference, Express News reported. The Attorney General and NAB submitted their reports, with the NAB prosecutor asserting that the Supreme Court decision does not impact the current case. Also read: NAB clears PM in Ashiana case The accountability court granted acquittals to Shehbaz, Fawad Hasan Fawad, Ahad Cheema, Shahid Shafiq (Chief Executive of Bismillah Construction Company), Bilal Kadwai, Imtiaz Haider, Israr Saeed, and Arif Butt, among others. The court had previously acquitted the two main accused, Nadeem Zia and Kamran Kayani, in the case. The reference had alleged that 16,000 low-income citizens invested Rs610 million in the housing scheme. The Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC) entered into a contract on January 20, 2015, resulting in government losses exceeding Rs645 million due to the incompetence of the companies involved.

from Pakistan News, Latest News Pakistan, Pakistan Headline | The Express Tribune https://ift.tt/iNkl4SP