Daily Times

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi on Tuesday filed a reference in the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) import contract case against 10 accused, including former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former finance minister Miftah Ismail and former Pakistan State Oil (PSO) managing director Sheikh Imranul Haq, a private TV channel reported.

The bureau submitted the reference in an accountability court in Islamabad. According to the reference, one company received benefits of over Rs 21 billion between March 2015 and September of this year. Additionally, the reference stated that the national exchequer will suffer a loss of Rs 47bn by 2029 because of the contract.

Former OGRA chairman Saeed Ahmed Khan, OGRA chairperson Uzma Adil Khan, chairman of Engro Group Hussain Dawood, former chairman PQA Agha Jan Akhtar, former member OGRA Aamir Naseem, former PSO MD Shahid M Islam and Abdul Sammad have also been named in the reference.

Both main accused persons – Abbasi and Ismail – have been behind bars for over four months in this case, while Haq obtained pre-arrest bail last Tuesday from the Islamabad High Court. Separately, reports said that NAB has given green signal for probing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz senior leader Rana Sanaullah for having assets beyond means of income.

The approval was given during a meeting of the executive board under NAB Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal. During the meeting, the NAB chairman said concluding the mega corruption cases will be a priority for the probe body. He said the authority believes in the policy of ‘accountability for everyone’.

Sanaullah, a member of the National Assembly (MNA) and president of the PML-N’s Punjab wing, was arrested in July, with a case filed in accordance with the Control of Narcotics Substances Act, 1997, after a large stash of contraband was recovered from his vehicle.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday accepted bail before arrest of convener Rehbar Committee and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Akram Khan Durrani in a case related to graft.

The hearing of the case was presided over by IHC’s divisional bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mian Gul Hassan. Hearing arguments from both sides the court accepted bail before arrest of Akram Durrani. He was asked to submit four security bonds of Rs 0.5 million each.

Meanwhile, a NAB investigation officer on Tuesday submitted report in the accountability court in an ongoing investigation of assets beyond known sources of income against Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani.

The NAB officer submitted a report on a court order in a previous hearing to separate Durrani’s wife, his son and daughters from the reference. The court had ordered authorities concerned to initiate proceedings for declaring the accused as fugitive.

Agha Siraj Durrani and co-accused were presented in the court during the hearing.

The court adjourned further hearing of the case until December 17.