LAHORE: An accountability court Thursday adjourned the hearing of Ashiana housing scam till Nov 12 after former Punjab chief minister and Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif appeared before the court.As the hearing commenced, the counsel for Shahbaz Sharif implored the court to grant exemption to his client from personal appearance due to his health issues. However, the court refused to grant the permission after which Shahbaz appeared before the court. Later, he was allowed by the court to leave the proceedings. Shahbaz said in the court room he had not committed any corruption and cases against him were politically motivated. To which the judge responded that truth would be uncovered after the trial is completed. After the proceedings, Shahbaz told the media the health of Nawaz Sharif was not fine and appealed to masses to pray for his recovery. He said the courts would be contacted for Nawaz Sharif treatment abroad. As per reference details, NAB accused Shahbaz of misusing his authority, which resulted in failure of the project, depriving 61,000 applicants of housing units. NAB, in the reference, alleged that Shahbaz, in connivance with former DG LDA Ahad Cheema, awarded the contract to a proxy. Also, Shahbaz usurped the powers of the Board of Directors of Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC) and transferred the project of Ashiana-e-Iqbal from PLDC to the LDA. The illegal acts of former chief minister caused a loss to the state exchequer amounting to Rs660 million and also led to an escalation of the project cost by approximately Rs3.39 billion, the reference read.
10-25-2019, 01:11 PM
Shahbaz appears in court, Ashiana scam hearing put off till Nov 12
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