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Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday appeared before the accountability court in the Ashiana Housing scheme and the Ramazan Sugar Mills, a local media reported.
Meanwhile, the partner in crime, former Director-General of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) Ahad Khan Cheema also appeared before the court and Punjab province Chief minister Hamza Shehbaz has also been summoned today, reported Geo News. The authorities concerned were involved in a cleaning process outside the accountability court prior to the appearance of PM Shehbaz. During the last hearing on June 11, Pakistan PM alleged that "I had misused my authority. The Lahore High Court (LHC) has given a detailed verdict in my case." "The National Accountability Court (NAB) approached the Supreme Court for revocation of my bail and the then chief justice asked where the proof of corruption was. The NAB ran away from there," Pakistan PM claimed. PM Shehbaz and Punjab CM Hamza Shehbaz were indicted in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case in 2020, reported Geo News. In its reference, the NAB had alleged that Shehbaz, then being the chief minister of Punjab, had issued a directive for the construction of a drain in Chiniot district, mainly for the use of Ramzan Sugar Mills, which is owned by his sons. It said Rs 200 million was spent on the drain of the public money. While the accountability bureau had also alleged that the then Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz and other suspects caused a huge loss to the national exchequer by awarding the contract of the Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme to a company without bidding. Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in December 2021 had submitted the challan against Shehbaz and Hamza before the special court for their alleged involvement in laundering an amount of Rs 16 billion in the sugar scam case, according to Geo News. The FIA report added that the amount was kept in "hidden accounts" and given to Shehbaz in a personal capacity. The FIA had booked them in the case under sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, the Prevention of Corruption Act, and the Anti-Money Laundering Act in November 2020. (ANI)
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