NAB given more time to respond to bail pleas of PML-N leaders

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday gave the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) more time to submit comments on bail petitions of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Ahsan Iqbal, reported ARY News.

A bench of the high court, under the stewardship of Chief Justice Athar Minallah, directed the bureau to file its reply by Feb 13.

At a previous hearing on Feb 3, the IHC had issued notices to NAB and the federal law ministry to file their response.

Barrister Zafarullah Khan and Jahangir Jadoon appeared before the court on behalf of the petitioners.

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“The petitioner has been in NAB detention for 191 days and the NAB has filed only an interim reference against him till now,” the counsels argued.

The petitioner and other accused were not even provided the copies of the reference so far, they said.

A copy of the court decision with regard to bail granted to Shaikh Imranul Haq, a co-accused in the LNG case, was also attached with the petition.

Read More: Court extends judicial remand of Ahsan Iqbal

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.

Whereas, Ahsan Iqbal has been accused of using funds of the federal government and Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) for a sports city in Narowal. He had already filed a reply to a questionnaire given to him by the bureau previously.