NAB files LNG reference again after addressing court objections

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday filed the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) reference again after addressing objections raised by the accountability court, ARY News reported.

The reference has been filed against 10 accused including former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former finance minister Miftah Ismail and others.

The registrar of the accountability court had earlier raised objections over the reference submitted in Islamabad accountability court.

The NAB reference has been comprised of 8000 pages and shifted to the accountability court II from the court number I of Islamabad.

The court has accepted the reference for hearing.

Accountability Judge Azam Khan will hear the LNG reference.

Former Pakistan State Oil (PSO) managing director Sheikh Imranul Haq, former Ogra chairman Saeed Ahmed Khan, Ogra chairperson Uzma Adil Khan and others have also been named in the reference.

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former finance minister Miftah Ismail have been behind bars in this case, while former PSO MD Haq obtained pre-arrest bail from the Islamabad High Court.

Abbasi was arrested in connection with the case in July. He is accused of awarding a 15-year contract for a terminal against the rules when he was the petroleum minister in former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s cabinet. The case was closed by NAB in 2016 but then reopened in 2018.