LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz on Friday appeared before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for the Punjab Saaf Pani Company (PSPC) corruption case. During the session headed by NAB Assistant Director Saqib Haider, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s son was interrogated over 13 questions regarding the scam for about two and a half hours. Talking to media after appearance, Hamza Shehbaz said that no one is above the law and that he is not a member of PSPC. “I only participated in five meetings,” he added. The leader further told that he had faced six-month imprisonment during former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s tenure. “My hands are clean,” he asserted. Hamza has been accused of possessing information or evidence related to the scam as he had attended its various meetings. Earlier, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar had expressed resentment on chief secretary over improper basic facilities in Punjab, asking the provincial government what steps it has taken for boosting health and education sectors. He remarked, “Do you know how much arsenic is being used in drinking water?” The top judge said that the local administration is busy in spending billions of rupees on Orange Line Train and neglected this issue. “Lahoris are using contaminated and poisonous water,” he added. Inp NAB in 2017 had launched a probe into the affairs of 56 public sector companies formed by Punjab CM Shehbaz Sharif’s administration in Punjab to investigate their alleged involvement in corruption. These companies are accused of certain irregularities, recruitment in violation of procurement rules and merit, nepotism and non-completion of various projects in time. During the hearing, Hamza was asked in what capacity he had chaired five meetings of the PSPC when he was not even a board member, to which he answered that the board had asked him to chair the meetings as a PML-N member. While on his way out of the accountability court, Hamza insisted he was not a board member and maintained his innocence, saying: “There is no difference between a common man and Hamza Shehbaz.” When asked if he believed the case was a conspiracy by the “aliens” that his uncle, Nawaz Sharif, keeps referring to, Hamza said he believed “that Pakistan should move forward”. Published in Daily Times, May 19th 2018.