SC to take up NAB appeal against Shehbaz Sharif's bail on Dec 3

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will hear on Dec 3 a petition moved by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) challenging Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif bail in a graft case, ARY News reported.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Mazhar Alam Mian will hear the case.

The corruption watchdog has challenged the Lahore High Court’s verdict through which it approved the bail for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president.

The bench will also hear a NAB appeal challenging the bail granted to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s principal secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad.

It is to mention here that Shehbaz Sharif is facing a number of graft cases instituted by the bureau.

Among the cases are the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme scam, Ramzan Sugar Mills and Saaf Pani scam.

In the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme scam, the former Punjab CM is facing charges of misusing his authority to illegally issue directives for cancellation of the contract with regard to the housing project in 2014, causing Rs715m loss to the exchequer, the reference reads.

Whereas, the Ramzan Sugar Mills case pertains to misuse of authority by Shehbaz by sanctioning construction of a bridge to facilitate the mill.

The then Punjab chief minister, Shehbaz Sharif, was accused of misusing his authority by issuing directives for the construction of a 10 kilometer long drain in Chiniot district primarily to benefit the sugar mills his sons owned.