ISLAMABAD: Hearing a case pertaining to corruption in LNG tenders and contracts during the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), the Islamabad High Court accepted bail pleas filed by former MD-PSO and former Minister for Finance, Miftah Ismail, ARY News reported on Thursday.
The High Court granted bails for the former Managing Director of Pakistan State Oil and Miftah Ismail till August 1st.
The bail was apporved over submission of surety bonds worth 0.5 million rupees each by the accused.
The court also sent a notice to the National Accountability Bureau seeking answers over some questions regarding the case.
Read More: SHC grants protective bail to Miftah Ismail
Former finance minister Miftah Ismail on Wednesday (yesterday) filed a petition in Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking pre-arrest bail.
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Javed Iqbal had last Thursday signed arrest warrants of Miftah Ismail in LNG scandal.
The Chairman NAB and Secretary Federal Ministry of Law have been mand party in the petition.
Ismail had got a protective bail from Sindh High Court (SHC) on last Friday.
Read More: NAB raids Miftah Ismail’s office in Karachi: sources
In petition he called the charges against him baseless and sought a pre-arrest bail from the high court till completion of the investigation and filing of reference against him in court.
The NAB teams last Thursday conducted raids at his residences in Karachi and Islamabad for his arrest.
Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has also been arrested by the accountability bureau in the same case last Thursday.
LNG Scandal
In June 2018, NAB had approved inquiry against former prime minister Abbasi, who was ex-minister for petroleum and natural resources at that time, in granting contract of LNG terminal for 15 years to their ‘favourite’ company.
It was also observed that this contract had allegedly caused a loss of billions of rupees to the national exchequer. The NAB in January interrogated former finance minister Miftah Ismail in the same case.
Read More: NAB gets 13-day remand of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in LNG case
According to NAB papers, the contract for the LNG import and distribution was awarded to the Elengy Terminal, a subsidiary of Engro, in 2013 in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and relevant laws.
The apex court on September 10, 2018 had directed the NAB to complete the inquiry against Abbasi and others for the alleged corruption in the LNG contract.
