Miftah Ismail released from Adiala Jail in LNG case

ISLAMABAD: Former Minister for Finance, Mifath Ismail released from Adial Jail on bail  Thursday after issuance of his release order by an accountability court, ARY News reported.

Accountability court issued release order of the former minister and PML-N leader in the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) scandal after his lawyer submitted Rs. 10 million surety bond in the court.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had granted post-arrest bail to Miftah Ismail in the case on December 23.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mian Gul Hassan approved the bail for the PML-N leader subject to submission of surety bonds worth Rs 10 million.

Over the course of the hearing today, the chief justice observed that there is no need to keep a person accused of a white-collar crime behind bars.

Miftah Ismail was taken into custody by the anti-corruption watchdog on August 07 when the court declined his request to extend his interim bail in the case.

Ismail filed bail petition after the high court granted bail to former managing director of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Sheikh Imranul Haq, a co-accused in the same case.

In his petition Ismail made the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Secretary of Law as party.

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has been the key accused in the LNG case.

LNG scandal

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Miftah Ismail, ex-PSO MD Imranul Haq and others are facing charges of corruption over awarding a LNG import contract allegedly at exorbitant rates in 2015, which caused a big loss to the national exchequer.

NAB sources said that Abbasi, in 2013, had awarded a LNG import and distribution contract to the Elengy Terminal in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and relevant laws.