LAHORE (APP): An accountability court on Thursday summoned Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif for January 26 in Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing scheme case.
Accountability Court Judge Amjad Nazir Chaudhry conducted the case proceedings, wherein the jail authorities produced the accused, former director general Lahore Development Authority Ahad Cheema and Shahid Shafique.
A prosecutor, on behalf of the National Accountability Bureau, submitted that the court had granted exemption from personal appearance to Shehbaz Sharif due to certain reasons, but now he was imprisoned and was appearing before the other courts. He pleaded with the court to summon Shehbaz Sharif in the Ashiana case also.
The court agreed with the prosecutor’s stance and directed the jail authorities to produce Shehbaz Sharif on January 26, while adjourning further hearing.
The court also recorded the statement of a witness, Patwari Saeed Akhtar, during the proceedings.
The court had granted permanent exemption from personal appearance to the opposition leader in National Assembly, Shehbaz Sharif, and former bureaucrat Fawad Hassan Fawad in the case, whereas their pleaders appeared on their behalf.
The court had indicted 10 accused including Shehbaz Sharif in the case.
NAB, in the reference, alleged that Shehbaz Sharif, being the chief minister of Punjab, misused his authority by unlawfully assuming powers of Board of Directors of the PLDC. It said he, in connivance with his co-suspects, awarded a contract to an ineligible proxy firm that resulted in failure of the Ashiana housing scheme, causing a loss to the public exchequer and depriving 61,000 applicants of their right to housing units.
