Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday has appeared before accountability court in Ramzan Sugar Mills and Ashiana Housing Society references. 

During the hearing, the court asked National Accountability Bureau (NAB) lawyer about the appearance of Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz to which, the counsel told that they had taken his physical remand from the court in both cases in yesterday’s proceedings. 

On February 18, accountability court Judge Syed Najmul Hassan had indicted ten suspects including Shehbaz Sharif in the Ashiana Iqbal Housing scandal.

All the accused rejected the charges. The PMLN president swore to God that the case against him is false and affirmed to bring facts in front of the nation.

On February 15, LHC had ordered to release Shehbaz Sharif after approving his bail plea. The court said in its remarks that the NAB had failed to prove the allegations leveled against the PML-N president. Shehbaz Sharif never remained the chief executive of Ramzan Sugar Mills, LHC remarked.

NAB had arrested Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme scam on October 5. The former chief minister was charged with awarding illegal contracts to his favorite firm.

He was apprehended during his appearance before NAB in Saaf Pani Company scam. Sources told that three files were tabled before him. The bureau quizzed Sharif regarding a tender awarded to a private consultancy company for a survey of the Saaf Pani company.

Ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s principal secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad became an approver in the case. Fawad Hassan Fawad, in his statement before NAB, had claimed that he had awarded a contract to a “favourite firm” in the Rs14 billion Ashiana Housing project at the behest of Shahbaz Sharif.

The anti-graft agency said that the contract for the housing scheme was won by a construction company titled Chaudhry Latif and Sons but Sharif cancelled it and later on awarded the contract to Lahore Casa Developers – a proxy group of Paragon City (Pvt) Limited, which is said to be owned by ex-Railways Minister Saad Rafique”.