NAB gives the Ashiana PM the all-clear.
According to the Bureau, no public official reaped any financial or other benefits from the deal.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has been found “innocent” by the country’s top accountability watchdog in a reference filed in an accountability court in 2018 regarding Shehbaz’s alleged misuse of authority in the execution of a low cost housing scheme while he was chief minister of Punjab.
The contract for the 2010 Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Society project in Lahore has been investigated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which found “no evidence” of wrongdoing.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) claims that Shehbaz Sharif did not personally profit from the project, and that the government incurred no losses as a result. The investigation concluded that there was “absolutely no loss” to the Treasury.
“No evidence of misuse of powers was found against Shahbaz Sharif,” it continued.
According to the NAB findings, the prime minister was exonerated of all charges of malice.
Kamran Kayani, brother of former army head General (ret.) Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, was supposedly not responsible for any financial losses, according to the article.
The investigation concluded that the contract was awarded without any improper influence from Fawad Hasan Fawad, who at the time served as the secretary implementation to the then-chief minister of Punjab, Shehbaz.
According to the report, Prime Minister Shehbaz has turned over the Ashiana investigation to the anti-corruption watchdog. According to the report, the accountability court should rule on Shehbaz Sharif’s motion to dismiss charges.
The prime minister has now been found not guilty in two high-profile cases brought against him by the NAB. Anti-corruption officials concluded earlier this month that Prime Minister Shehbaz, his son Hamza Shehbaz, and others were “innocent” of the allegations of accumulating wealth beyond their means and laundering Rs7 billion.
The Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme was promoted as a budget-friendly option when it first debuted. As mysterious delays in voting and the distribution of finished units surfaced, however, charges of irregularity soon followed.
On October 5, 2018, the country’s top accountability watchdog arrested Shehbaz Sharif, president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and former chief minister of Punjab, for his suspected involvement in a multi-billion rupee housing scandal.
Following Shahbaz’s detention in December 2018, the NAB published a statement in which it claimed to have adequate evidence to substantiate the former CM’s involvement in the commission of offenses as described in section 9(a) and Schedule of the NAB 1999.
Shehbaz, it was said, had usurped the authority of the PLDC Board of Directors through his position as Chief Minister of Punjab.
“[He] misused his authority and acted in connivance with accused Fawad Hassan Fawad, then the secretary implementation to CM Punjab, and others and illegally got cancelled a contract awarded to M/s Chaudhry Latif and Sons for infrastructure development of Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Project,” it read.
NAB argues that there is no reason to revoke the aforementioned contract award because it was validated as lawful by a powerful committee in accordance with the PPRA Rules. However, this was carried out to illegally benefit a preferred contractor who had offered unlawful gratification in exchange for the same.
During a meeting on October 21, 2014, the “accused as CM Punjab” allegedly ordered the Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC) to hand over responsibility for the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Punjab project to the Lahore Development Authority (LDA).
“This decision was illegal and malafide as the PLDC was the company which was established for undertaking such housing projects,” the NAB statement read.
According to the document, the PLDC’s BOD is responsible for making decisions unilaterally in accordance with the Corporate Governance Rules 2013 and the Companies Ordinance 1984 (now the Companies Act 2017).
“This act on the part of accused Shehbaz Sharif not only negated the very objective of creation of [the] PLDC but also caused huge loss to state exchequer,” NAB had previously alleged.
