Court adjourns Ashiana-e-Iqbal case hearing till Apr 1

LAHORE: An accountability court on Tuesday adjourned hearing of Ashiana-e-Iqbal housing scheme case till April 1.

Accountability Court Judge Amjad Nazir Chaudhry conducted the case proceedings, wherein the jail authorities produced Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, former Lahore Development Authority director general Ahad Cheema and other accused.

The court expressed annoyance at prosecution witnesses, bank officers, over failure to bring the relevant record. The court asked them why they came without record.

To which, a witness replied that the record was coming from Karachi and it would reach by the evening.

However, the court issued show-cause notices to both the witnesses and remarked why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them.

Shehbaz Sharif took to the rostrum and requested the court to adjourn the matter for long time in view of current coronavirus wave. He submitted that after passing the current wave, proceedings should be conducted as per routine.

But, the court observed that it would review plea of Shehbaz Sharif on the next date of hearing and adjourned the matter till April 1.

The court directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) witnesses for bringing the relevant record on the next hearing.

The court has recorded statements of 23 prosecution witnesses so far, whereas the Bureau had submitted a list of 86 witnesses in the case.

The court indicted 13 accused including Shehbaz Sharif in the case. NAB alleged in the reference 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 Ashiana housing scheme causing a loss to public exchequer and depriving 61,000 applicants of housing units of their own.