Daily Times

LAHORE: An accountability court on Friday dismissed the acquittal applications, filed by Provincial Minister Sibtain Khan and other accused in the Chiniot mines and minerals case.

Accountability Court Judge Sajjad Ali announced the verdict after hearing arguments of the parties, which had been reserved earlier. Sibtain Khan and other accused appeared during the proceedings and got their attendance marked. The minister had filed acquittal applications, saying that after the Amended NAB ordinance, the reference did not fall under the jurisdiction of the bureau. The defence counsel had submitted that the amended NAB ordinance was also applicable to old cases.

It was submitted that the mining contract was not awarded during 2007 when Sibtain Khan was a minister for mines and minerals in the PML-Q government. However, National Accountability Bureau’s prosecutor opposed the acquittal applications and requested for their dismissal. Besides Sibtain Khan, Salman Ghani, Muhammad Aslam, Abdul Sattar Mian, and Imtiaz Ahmad Cheema had been named as the accused in the reference, filed by the Bureau.