The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has summoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in helicopter scandal in the coming week.
Imran Khan is accused of illegally using KP government’s helicopters for 74 hours which caused a loss of Rs2.1 million to the national exchequer.
Inquiry regarding misuse of helicopters is continuing and former KP chief minister Pervez Khattak has already appeared in the case.
NAB Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal had taken notice of the scandal on February 2, directing the bureau’s KP chief to conduct an inquiry into unofficial use of MI-17 and Ecureuil helicopters.
A press release issued by the bureau at that time had stated that there is documentary evidence available that Imran Khan paid Rs2.1 million for using the helicopters belonging to the KP government for a total of 74 hours, which amounts to Rs28,000 spent for every hour the helicopters were used. The NAB report claims that had Khan used a private company’s choppers, it would have cost him an hourly fare of between Rs1million and Rs1.2million for the Mi-17, and between Rs0.5million and Rs0.6million for the Ecureuil. It claimed that Khan should have paid the KP government Rs11.1million but official documents only mention payments worth Rs2.1million.
Khan had claimed at a party meeting that he had not used official helicopters of the PTI-led KP government for personal use.
Published in Daily Times, July 13th 2018.