LHC surprised over NAB performance in Ashiana scam

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday expressed surprise over National Accountability Bureau’s performance in Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme as it made a government officer who had cancelled the first contract of the scheme a prosecution witness against former Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and former Secretary to Chief Minister Fawad Hassan Fawad.

A division bench comprising Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan and Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf was hearing bail petitions moved by Shahbaz Sharif and Fawad in NAB cases. You have made the officer responsible your witness on the plea that he signed the letter under coercion, the court asked the prosecutor.

During the course of hearing, the court constantly asked the NAB prosecutor to produce any document/letter showing involvement of Fawad being secretary implementation to the CM in cancellation of the contract initially awarded to Latif & Sons. Prosecutor Faisal Bokhari conceded that no such documents were available with NAB. He, however, argued the bureau had recorded the statements of co-accused against Mr Fawad to establish his role in the cancellation of the contract. He alleged that Fawad wanted to get the contract awarded to the company of Kamran Kiyani, brother of former Army Chief Ashraf Pervez Kiyani. He said the investigators traced banking transduction of over Rs50 million made to the account of Fawad’s brother through the account of Kiyani’s company. The amount was paid as bribe, the prosecutor added.

Advocate Azam Nazir Tarar, the counsel for Fawad, stated at this point that the transaction in question was in relation with the family business of his client, which also followed another transaction of over Rs80 million from the account of Fawad’s brother to Kiyani’s account.

Being dissatisfied with the NAB’s view, Justice Khan observed that the NAB could make a case of assets beyond means out of that bank transaction but could not relate it to the allegation of misuse of power.

Advocate Tarar argued that Fawad had no powers to exercise. A secretary implementation was supposed to forward summaries to chief minister and convey decisions on them to the departments concerned, he explained. The bench also observed that the documents available with the NAB did not show that the contract of the housing scheme was cancelled unilaterally rather there was a civil litigation and the company had been compensated by the government. The prosecutor pointed out that Rs5.9 million had been paid to Latif & Sons as compensation against cancellation of the lawful contract, which caused a loss to public money. To a court’s query, the prosecutor stated that the then CEO of Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC) Tahir Khurshid, also the project director, had cancelled the contract following an approval by the company’s board of directors.

The bench was surprised when the prosecutor said Khurshid was a witness of the NAB as he approved the cancellation under duress. Justice Rauf said that the bench was not being properly assisted by the NAB as several queries of the bench remained answered.

Opposing the bail petition of Mr Sharif, NAB Special Prosecutor Akram Qureshi mainly argued that the former chief minister unlawfully encroached upon the jurisdiction of the PLDC and cancelled the contract. He said the PLDC was an autonomous body and the chief minister had no authority to intervene in its affairs.

To a court’s query about alleged involvement of Paragon City in the case, he said the contract was later awarded on an inflated price of Rs13 billion to M/s Lahore Casa Developers, which was a front company of the Paragon. The special prosecutor also sought more time to submit documents in support of his arguments.

The bench adjourned further hearing till February 11 and directed the NAB to also come up with the total expenses incurred upon all projects of the Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme in the province and subsidy given by the government on it.