ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday granted interim bail till August 1, to former finance minister Miftah Ismail and former managing director Pakistan State Oil (PSO) in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) corruption case.

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb accepted the pre-arrest bail against surety bonds worth Rs 0.5 million, each.

During outset of hearing, the petitioners’ counsel pleaded that former finance minister was currently on protective bail granted by Sindh High Court (SHC).

He stated that his clients were not involved in any irregularity or corruption related to the LNG import agreement.

The NAB, he said, had served call up notices to petitioner on July 15, and then issue arrest warrants on July 16, against them.

The petitioners prayed the court to stop National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from arresting his clients till conclusion of an investigation and filing of a reference.

The bench accepted the bail and also sought reply from National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Earlier, the Registrar Office of IHC had raised objections over the petitions and asked the petitioners to file the pleas again after rectification.

However, later the IHC bench heard the petitions along with objections.

It may be mentioned here that the NAB had already arrested former prime minister and Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN)’s leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in the same corruption scandal.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2019

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