Court verdict says…: NAB failed to prove Shahbaz received kickbacks

LAHORE: An accountability court, in its detailed verdict while turning down the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) request for extension in the physical remand of Shahbaz Sharif, agreed with the defence counsel that the investigation team has failed to produce any evidence showing that the accused received any financial benefits, commissions or kick-backs.

The counsel for Shahbaz Sharif in the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme case submitted that NAB investigation officer failed to make any progress in investigation during the previous physical remand term. The accountability court had extended the physical remand of the accused on the basis of documentary evidence, and an additional reference was filed in the housing scam.

However, the NAB counsel told the court that former chief minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif caused a financial loss of Rs75 million to the national exchequer by cancelling Ch Latif and Sons contract for the construction of the housing scheme. 

The accountability court released the three-page verdict about sending Shahbaz on a judicial remand, and ordered for producing him in the court on Dec 13. The Punjab government's controversial Ashiana Housing project was launched in 2010. According to a January 16 NAB notification, opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif was accused of ordering the cancellation of a contract given to successful bidder Chaudhry Latif and Sons for the Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing scheme, which led to the subsequent award of the contract to Lahore Casa Developers, a proxy group of Paragon City Private Limited, resulting in a loss of Rs193 million. Shahbaz is also accused of directing the Punjab Land Development Company to assign the Ashiana-i-Iqbal project to the Lahore Development Authority, which awarded the contract to Lahore Casa developers, causing a loss of Rs715m and the ultimate failure of the project.

The NAB has also accused Shahbaz of directing the Punjab Land Development Company to award the consultancy services contract for the project to Engineering Consultancy Services Punjab for Rs192m, while the actual cost was supposed to be Rs35m as quoted by Nespak, a renowned engineering consultancy.

The other key accused in the case include Fawad Hasan Fawad, the former principal secretary to the prime minister and a senior bureaucrat. According to NAB, Fawad, while serving as implementation secretary to the Punjab chief minister in the Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing project, had misused his authority.

Chaudhry Latif and Sons were given Rs70 million as a mobilisation advance and they began working on the project. The government later had to pay an additional Rs5.9m to the company due to the illegal suspension of the contract. The NAB investigator had said the illegal steps taken by Fawad had not only caused an inordinate delay in the execution of the project, but also resulted in a considerable project cost hike. The NAB had also arrested Ahad Khan Cheema, former director general of the Lahore Development Authority.