Daily Times

An accountability court on Monday returned Pakistan Public Works Department (Pak PWD) contracts reference to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The court held that the matter did not fall under its jurisdiction, as per NAB amended law, and ordered the NAB chairman to place the matter before the court concerned without delay. The court also granted protective bail to the accused and directed for submitting surety bonds of Rs200,000 each. Accountability Court Judge Zubair Shahzad Kiyani passed the orders while deciding applications of the accused. The accused through their applications had submitted that the accountability court was not empowered to hear any reference involving an amount below Rs500 million, under the NAB amended law. They submitted that the reference amount was below Rs500 million and it did not come under the jurisdiction of the court. The NAB had filed reference against eight Pak PWD officials including SDO Khursheed Ahmed, XEN Humera Khurram, and others. It was alleged that the accused embezzled millions of rupees by submitting bogus bills/payments fraudulently of the 19 development projects regarding construction of roads and drainage in Sheikhupura, while the projects had already been executed by the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA).