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The Lahore High Court on Thursday granted bail to Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif in the Ashiana Housing Scheme and Ramzan Sugar Mills references. The court however denied bail to Fawad Hassan Fawad former secretary implementation to chief minister Punjab in the reference of assets of beyond means. The court however allowed bail to Fawad in the housing scheme scam.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested Shahbaz Sharif on October 5 last in the Ashiana Housing Scheme scam when he appeared before it to join investigation in Punjab Saaf Pani corruption case. The PML-N's president underwent physical remand of 62 days as an accountability court on December 6, 2018 sent him on judicial remand rejecting a request of the NAB for extension in his physical remand.

During his physical and judicial remand, the opposition leader kept attending sessions of the National Assembly following issuance of his production orders by the Speaker. Later he became chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and remained busy in Islamabad with the meetings of the committee. The NAB alleged that Shahbaz being chief minister of Punjab had issued a directive for construction of a drain in district Chiniot primarily for the use of Ramzan Sugar Mills owned by his sons. It said Rs 200 million was spent for this purpose from public money.

Earlier, the defence counsel Azam Nazir Tarar and Amjad Pervez submitted details of development projects carried out in other districts in addition to Chiniot. Amjad Pervez said the drain in question was constructed under midterm development framework after approval from the provincial assembly and the cabinet. The counsel stated that the residents of the Chiniot were benefited more with the construction of the drain as the sugar mills did not function whole year.

NAB special prosecutor argued that details of development projects were not discussed in the assembly sessions as the members only debated budget. The bench observed that if this point of view of the NAB was accepted no parliamentarian would ever launch development projects in his/her constituency. The bench noted that the NAB in response to bail petition of Hamza, the main beneficiary, had taken a plea that his arrest was not necessary as he had been fully cooperating in the investigation.

The court would see the parameters of the bureau's investigations as reasons behind the selective arrests did not seem logical, the court observed. Regarding the matter of Ashiana, the counsel of Shahbaz argued that the latter was not the main suspect in the reference. The NAB implicated Shahbaz in a supplementary reference at a later stage, he added.

Representing Fawad in the 'illegal' assets case, the defence counsel argued that the plaza in Rawalpindi being attributed to his client by the NAB was in fact owned by a company (FYC) of his brothers and other family members. He stated that the plaza was constructed with a bank loan of Rs 2 billion and the FBR had its complete record since 1995. The counsel however in response to a court query said that Fawad served at the chief minister's house from April 7, 2012 to 2013.

The NAB prosecutor stated that an inquiry against Fawad was initiated following an Islamabad High Court order passed on a complaint filed by a lawyer namely Khurram Qureshi in 2017.

He said the complainant provided the bureau with 'evidence' of five illegal properties owned by Fawad. He said the father of Fawad had retired from army as non-commissioned officer and later served in the forest department. The prosecutor however said Fawad's father had owned only one house measuring five-marla in Rawalpindi and added that there was a visible increase in the assets of the accused after 2014.

The bench observed that the defence admitted the fact that the wife of the suspect was a shareholder in the FYC company. The value of the shares was Rs 350 million, said the prosecutor and added that the suspect also purchased a company previously owned by a former ambassador to the US.

He said Fawad violated the rules and worked in two banks during the period of official leave. The suspect maintained seven personal bank accounts, 14 by his family members and a total of 48 "benami" accounts had been traced during the investigation, said the prosecutor. The prosecutor concluded, "Fawad being principal secretary to prime minister and secretary implementation to chief minister misused his authority and committed massive corruption".

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019


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