Miftah Ismail gets interim bail in LNG quota reference

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday granted protective bail to former finance minister, Miftah Ismail in a case related to liquefied petroleum gas (LNG) quota scam reference.

Two member bench of the IHC comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb took up PML-N leader’s bail plea.

Miftah along with his counsel appeared before the court for the hearing.

Ismail appealed the court to grant him interim bail until final decision on the inquiry pertaining to the LNG case. Miftah insisted in his plea that the accountability watchdog is carrying out alleged baseless inquiry against him as he has nothing to do with the scam.

The court after hearing arguments granted bail to Miftah Ismail against submission of two security bonds of Rs 0.5 million each until May 7.

The honourable court also sent notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in this regard

Earlier, the NAB had requested the interior ministry to put the name of former finance minister Miftah Ismail on the Exit Control List.

The LNG scam

In October, 2018, the NAB had reopened investigation into LNG scandal against former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and others.

The file of the case was closed and it was in the back burner at Karachi office of the National Accountability Bureau.

The anti-corruption watchdog is inquiring into a case registered in 2015 against Abbasi for awarding a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import contract which caused a potential $2 billion loss to the national exchequer.

According to NAB documents, the contract for the LNG import and distribution was awarded to the Elengy Terminal in 2013 in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and relevant laws.