Shehbaz Sharif calls Ashiana case ‘politically motivated’

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif in his statement before the accountability court has cited the Ashiana case to be politically motivated.

Shehbaz was summoned before an accountability court on Saturday, a day after National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested him in a corruption probe pertaining to Ashiana Housing Scheme case and moved him in a 10-day physical remand.

Shehbaz stated that he had not committed corruption of even a single penny. “I worked day and night to serve the people,” Sharif said.

He clarified that he had saved billions by personally intervening, adding that his involvement in the Orange Line Train project had saved the province Rs75 billion.

As per NAB’s inquiry, Shehbaz Sharif as Punjab chief minister had abused his powers by unlawfully acquiring powers of Board of Directors of Punjab Land and Development Company (PLDC), and misused his authority in connivance with Fawad Hassan— who at the time was Secretary Implementation to CM Punjab and others.

Contracts awarded to M/s Ch. A Latif and sons for the development and infrastructure of Ashiana Iqbal Housing Project were illegally canceled, the inquiry observed.

As the chief minister, Shehbaz Sharif in a meeting on October 21, 2014 unlawfully directed PLDC to entrust the project of Ashiana Iqbal Punjab to LDA. This decision of Sharif was illegal and mala fide as PLDC was the company which was established for undertaking such housing projects. Shehbaz is accused of illegally transferring this project to LDA, which was headed by his close aide Ahad Khan Cheema, Geo News reported.

Shehbaz is also accused of working in connivance with other accused in the case and directed LDA to undertake Ashiana Iqbal Project under Public Private Partnership mode. 

NAB states this was done in order to give “unlawful benefit to blue-eyed firm namely M/s Bismillah Engineering Service Company, which was a proxy firm to M/s Paragon City.”