Broadsheet scandal: All documents, facts should be made public, demands Khaqan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday demanded that all documents and facts of Broadsheet scandal should be made public.

Talking to the media after appearing before an accountability court in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) case, he said the Broadsheet case was not just a single case related to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). If the record of the NAB is brought before public, people will see hundreds of such cases, he said.

A small portion of Broadsheet case has been made public, he said, adding that otherwise, cases in these courts were not more than a ‘pack of lies.’

These cases were just a source of ‘political engineering’ and defaming politicians as well as to create an impression that all politicians were corrupt, he said.

He elaborated that the kinds of questions asked from politicians should also be asked from bureaucrats, judges, and generals.

About Broadsheet scandal, he further said if there is genuine accountability then three NAB chairmen can be send to jail in the Broadsheet case.

These three chairmen should be given into the NAB custody and their remand should be granted and put them in judicial custody for years like you place politicians, he said.

He said big names, including former president Gen Pervez Musharraf (retd), will come before public, if the entire detail is shared.

This case also include prosecutor general of the NAB, he said, adding that his signature was present on Broadsheet agreement but when the matter gone to arbitration he becomes witness of Broadsheet.

“The people who put Shehbaz Sharif, Khawaja Asif, and Hamza Shehbaz in jails are not being held accountable,” he added.

Why courts were silent over Broadsheet scandal, he asked, adding that this is a question mark over the whole accountability system.

Without naming Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said the prime minister who was talking earlier about the case, now saying that he has nothing to do with Broadsheet.

He said the institution which was considered to hold others accountable has itself come under the watch of accountability but no one is here to question the institution.

Earlier, he appeared before the accountability court-II judge Muhammad Azam Khan in LNG case.

His counsel crossed examined the prosecution witness Muhammad Hassan, an assistant director of the Ministry of Petroleum, who produced different documents related to the case before the court.

The witness told the court that it is correct that he has not submitted the complete noting sheet and have submitted a portion of the noting sheet.

It is true that official documents must be signed, he said. He said that official documents were signed to indicate authorship of document.

The person who signed the last page should be responsible for the previous pages, he said.

It is correct that two pages was not a lengthy document, he said.

The witness told that he has seen some other official documents/contact every page of which is not signed.

I have undergone secretariat training of one month. I have been given training of preparation of noting, he said.

He said the list of participants which produced before the court do not have signature of Secretary Petroleum Abid Saeed.

It is also correct that there is no signature of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and contact number on the list of the participants, he said.

To another question, the witness said he does not know that why the subject of the meeting ‘import of LNG’ was written on hand on the list of participants.

I do not know that two persons from army who attended this meeting.

I do not know who prepared the list of the participants, he said.

He said it was not in his knowledge that the Law Division has issued a circular, directing that the document and its every page shall be signed by the authorised officer. The court adjourned hearing of the case till Feb 22nd.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021