LAHORE: An accountability court in Lahore on Saturday acquitted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the plots allotment reference case, ARY News reported.
Accountability Judge Rao Abdul Jabbar announced the verdict after hearing arguments from the PML-N supremo’s legal team.
Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer argued that the anti-graft watchdog had filed the reference against his client on the basis of malice. “Nawaz Sharif has no role in the allotment of plots,” the lawyer said further. He added that a case cannot even be made under the new law.
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The development came after the accountability court had returned the reference against the former prime minister and several others to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The reference was returned by the court in accordance with the amendments made to the NAB laws.
The reference
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had alleged that the former premier illegally allotted 54 plots each measuring one-kanal situated in Block-H, Johar Town when he was chief minister of Punjab.
It alleged the accused caused a loss of Rs143m to the national exchequer through the allotment of the land.
