NAB declares Pakistan PM Shahbaz innocent in Ashiana Housing scandal

Tariq Butt, Correspondent 

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Saturday declared Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif innocent in the Ashiana Housing reference, which was filed against him in 2018.

According to a report submitted by NAB to the Lahore Accountability Court of Judge Sheikh Sajjad Ahmad, no evidence of corruption was found in the contract issued for the scheme.

The report said there was no loss caused to the national kitty nor did Shahbaz get any financial benefit from the project. "It is proved beyond any doubt that the treasury didn't suffer any loss,” the NAB said. "No evidence of misuse of powers was found against Shahbaz Sharif.”

The NAB report stated that no aspect of malice was proven against Shahbaz in this case. Furthermore, the report stated that Kamran Kayani, brother of former army chief General (retd) Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, also didn't cause any damage to the treasury.

The report found that Fawad Hasan Fawad — who at the time was the implementation secretary to then-Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif — took no bribe to award the contract.

The report added that Shahbaz as the chief minister had sent the Ashiana case to the anti-corruption watchdog as per the law. "The accountability court should decide Shahbaz Sharif's plea for acquittal according to the law,” the report said.

Judge Sheikh Sajjad Ahmad then called lawyers from both sides for arguments and adjourned the hearing till May 27.

When it was launched in 2011, the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme was touted as a low-cost housing scheme.

However, soon accusations of irregularity started to pop up as inexplicable delays in ballots and the allotment of completed units began to crop up. After several years, in 2018, several high-profile politicians came under fire for alleged corruption and misuse of fire, leading to an inquiry by the anti-graft watchdog.

Amongst those accused was Sharif, who had allegedly misused his powers during his stint as Punjab chief minister in an inquiry pertaining to the Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC).