Shehbaz, others acquitted in Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing reference

LAHORE: An accountability court on Saturday acquitted former Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and several others in the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme reference.

The list of acquitted individuals included Caretaker Privatization Minister Fawad Hassan Fawad, Special Assistant to the caretaker prime minister Ahad Cheema, Shahid Shafique, Bilal Qadwai, Imtiaz Haider, Israr Saeed, and Arif Butt.

Accountability Court Judge Ali Zulqarnain Awan announced the verdict on acquittal applications of the accused, following a report submitted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in response to the court’s query about Supreme Court’s order of October 31.

During Saturday’s proceedings, a NAB prosecutor stated that the accused did not derive any benefit from the amended NAB law, emphasizing that the reference was thoroughly examined on its merits. The prosecutor further clarified that the Supreme Court’s order did not prohibit the court from delivering a verdict on the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme reference.

On November 1, the court had initially reserved its verdict after hearing arguments from both the applicant’s counsel and NAB prosecutors, with the intention to announce the verdict on November 7.

However, on the scheduled day, the court postponed proceedings, seeking clarification from the NAB due to perceived ambiguity arising from the Supreme Court order on October 31. The court conveyed that the verdict in the case would be issued after interpretation of the Apex court’s order.

The Supreme Court, in its October 31 ruling, permitted accountability courts to continue proceedings in corruption cases but restrained them from issuing final orders.

A NAB report submitted in May had asserted that it did not find any evidence for financial corruption or misuse of authority against Shehbaz Sharif, stating that the allegations did not meet the criteria outlined in the National Accountability Ordinance of 1999.

Notably, in the Ashiana reference, the accountability court had previously acquitted Kamran Kiyani and Nadeem Zia on October 11, citing a “lack of evidence.” The NAB had filed the reference in 2018, alleging that Shehbaz Sharif and other accused had caused significant financial loss to the national treasury by awarding the housing scheme contract to a company without a competitive bidding process.