Former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, on Monday, appeared before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a corruption probe related to the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme, Punjab Power Development Company (PPDC) and the Punjab Saaf Paani Company (PSPC). The former Punjab CM was summoned in the PPDC case over the charges of illegal appointments and in the Ashiana-e-Iqbal case, over the revelations made by the former principal secretary to the prime minister, Fawad Hassan Fawad. Fawad was accused of misusing his authority by awarding the contracts illegally in the housing scheme, when he was the secretary implementation during Shehbaz Sharif’s government in 2013. On the other hand, the case related to the PSPC pertains to the alleged financial corruption in the company. It was established by the government of Punjab to conceive, plan, design, execute and manage projects for the provision of safe drinking water, in terms of both access and quality, to the communities living in the underprivileged and underserved areas ie rural and semi-urban areas of the province. Besides Shehbaz, other office holders of the previous Punjab government were also accused of corrupt practices in the above mentioned companies. Published in Daily Times, August 21st 2018.