LAHORE : Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) against putting his name in the Exit Control List (ECL).
The PML-N resident in his writ petition cited the interior ministry, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman and other authorities concerned as respondents.
The PML-N leader says in the petition that the accountability watchdog failed to prove charges of financial irregularities in Ramzan Sugar Mills and Ashiana Housing scam.
He further said that a division bench of the Lahore High Court had granted him bail after he provided the evidence of his innocence. He submitted that court may kindly order the exclusion of his name from the no-fly list.
His name had been placed on the ECL after the approval of the federal cabinet on the recommendations of the NAB. The interior ministry had issued a notification regarding ban on travelling of Shehbaz. Punjab chief minister, has been facing two corruption references filed by the NAB which accused him in Ramzan Sugar Mills reference of misusing his authority as Punjab chief minister to benefit factories owned by his sons. As per the NAB, the power abuse had cost Rs200 million loss to the national exchequer.
Likewise, he is charged in Ashiana Iqbal Housing Scheme with misusing of authority to illegally issue directives for cancellation of contract pertaining the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme in 2014 which caused Rs715m loss to the national exchequer.
On February, 2019, an accountability court indicted Shehbaz Sharif along with senior bureaucrats Fawad Hassan Fawad, Ahad Cheema and others in Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing case, and adjourned the hearing till March 4.
Against the NAB accusations, Shehbaz is of the view that he never misused authority and that he had been implicated in a baseless case.
The court indicted the accused after the accountability watchdog filed a supplementary reference against PML-N president in the case. The others named in the reference are Fawad Hassan Fawad, Nadeem Zia, Kamran Kiyani, Munir Zia, Khalid Hussain, Shahid Chaud.
