Court extends remand of former Punjab minister, three others

LAHORE: An accountability court on Friday extended the judicial remand of former Punjab minister Sibtain Khan and three others for 14 more days in a case pertaining to a Chiniot mining contract.

Accountability Judge Naeem Arshad directed the jail authorities to produce them before him on the next hearing on Aug 23.

The PTI MPA, former secretary Mines and Minerals Department Imtiaz Ahmed, former manager operations and planning Muhammad Aslam, and former chief inspector mines Punjab Abdul Sattar were produced before the court on completion of their remand.

At a previous hearing, the NAB prosecutor had informed the court that Khan, as Punjab Minister for Mines and Minerals, illegally awarded a contract of multi-billion rupee worth of 500 metric tonnes of iron ore in Rajwah and Chiniot in 2007.

The contract was awarded to the company which had no experience in the relevant field, the prosecutor claimed.

Khan’s lawyer, however, stated that the corruption watchdog had already shelved an inquiry into the alleged scam. A probe carried out into the matter by NAB previously held that the national kitty didn’t suffer any loss.

Besides, he said, all relevant record has been given to the anti-graft watchdog and thus, there is no need to hand over the custody of his client to NAB on further physical remand.