Ahad Cheema case: CJ orders recovery of amount given beyond regular salary

LAHORE: The Supreme Court (SC) on Saturday ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to recover salaries from former director general of Lahore Development Authority (LDA) Ahad Cheema, which he received as chief executive officer of Bhikki Power Plant, beyond his regular salary.

Chief Justice (CJ) Mian Saqib Nisar also ordered the authorities concerned to seize properties, owned by Cheema in case of non-payment.

A bench, headed by the chief justice, was hearing the case regarding the LDA City project in which Cheema is accused of corruption worth billions in a deal between Paragon Housing Society and Punjab Land Development Company to construct the Ashiana-e-Iqbal housing scheme, a low-cost housing project of the Punjab government.

Cheema was brought to the court by NAB from jail on the direction of Chief Justice in a case related to LDA-City housing scheme.

The chief justice chided Cheema for misusing public money for development schemes including Orange Line Metro Train project. Justice Nisar asked Cheema who was responsible for the destruction. “First Orange Line Train was ruined and now LDA City,” he remarked. However, at the same time chief justice showed annoyance at NAB poor investigation in the case. “I can tell you they all will be freed soon. Solving a white-collar crime is an uphill task,” the chief justice reminded the counsel for NAB.

Responding to court’s query, he said the government introduced the concept of public-private partnership from the DHA and claimed that the process of land acquisition was going smoothly till the intervention by NAB.

Cheema said the LDA had decided to outsource acquisition of the land for the housing scheme to avoid litigation.