Ex-minister Miftah Ismail arrested in LNG case

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday arrested former finance minister Miftah Ismail and ex-managing director Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Sheikh Imranul Haq after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected their interim bail applications in LNG agreement investigation.

A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani heard the bail applications. Justice Minallah remarked that the bail could be granted in only hardships related matters in accordance with standard set by the Supreme Court for bails in the NAB cases.

During the course of the proceedings, the NAB prosecutor pleaded before the bench that the accused had caused a loss of more than Rs1.5 billion to national exchequer by setting extra price of LNG in the agreement with Qatar.

Miftah’s counsel argued that the anti-graft body was misusing its powers, which was against the standard of justice, to which Justice Kayani asked him whether the ex-finance minister had not conducted negotiation to set the price of LNG.

The lawyer replied that an eight-member committee had conducted negotiation and his client was only a member of the committee. The decision to import LNG from Qatar had been taken before his client took charge of the finance ministry, while the LNG terminal was set up later on, he argued.

He contended that the incumbent government had paid extra price to set up second LNG terminal than the previous government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).The chief justice remarked the top court had declared in the NAB cases that interim bail could not be granted except in extra-ordinary situations.

After the bench dismissed the interim bail petitions, the NAB officials arrested both Ismail and Haq from the court premises. It may be mentioned here that former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had also been arrested in the same case by the NAB.