Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday failed to appear before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigating alleged misuse of public money in a road construction project for Jati Umra in Raiwand. The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo was summoned for the second time by the anti-corruption watchdog. In December 2017, the country’s top anti-graft body had approved the corruption reference against former premier Nawaz and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif over alleged misuse of public funds amounting to Rs126 million, spent on the construction of the two-lane road from Raiwind to their family residence. The investigations against the Sharif brothers and others in the case were first initiated by NAB in April 2000. The case was among 146 high-profile cases cited in a list by the bureau. A notification issued by the bureau said that the width of the road was increased from 20ft to 24ft, which resulted in cost escalation of the project. It also claimed that the district council Lahore had to drop various other projects of public welfare at the cost of the said project on the ex-PM’s ‘illegal’ directives. Published in Daily Times, May 21st 2018.