Court sends back reference against Sibtain Khan to NAB chief

LAHORE: An accountability court on Thursday returned Chiniot mineral resources reference against Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan and other accused.

Accountability Judge Zubair Shehzad in a four-page written decision said that the accused has been charged of corruption below 500 million rupees thus it has been out of the jurisdiction under the NAB amended law and the court could not further proceed in this reference.

“The court has decided to send back the reference to the Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB), who should refer the matter to a relevant forum”, the decision read.

“All accused will be on bail and will appear before the relevant forum on summon,” according to the decision.

“Speaker Sibtain Khan and co-accused have challenged the court’s jurisdiction under the amended NAB law. The accused have argued that repeat of the inquiry will be violation of the amended law,” decision read.

The accused in the reference were charged of illegally awarding the Chiniot mineral deposits contract to their favorite company.