SC Registrar Office returns NAB appeal against Shehbaz bail with objection

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court’s Registrar Office on Friday returned back the appeals of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) challenging the release of former chief minister Shehbaz Sharif and Fawad Hassan Fawad on bail.

The registrar office of the apex court returned the NAB pleas with objections over quoting wrong articles and numbers in the accountability bureau’s appeal.

The NAB had filed an appeal against the Lahore High Court’s February 14 order in Ashiana Iqbal and Ramzan Sugar Mills cases in the apex court.

The registrar office directed the accountability bureau to re-submit the appeals after addressing the objections raised by the office.

The accountability bureau had prayed in appeal that the high court order should be set aside and the bail allowed to Shahbaz Sharif in Ashiana Iqbal Housing Scheme and Ramzan Sugar Mills cases, and Fawad Hassan Fawad, the then secretary (implementation) to CM Punjab, in Ashiana Housing case.

The Lahore High Court had granted bail to Shehbaz Sharif on February 14 in Ramzan Sugar Mills and Ashiana Housing Scheme cases.

The high court had released 22-page verdict in the Ashiana Housing scandal and a 20-page decision on the Ramzan Sugar Mills case later on February 21.

In its detailed verdict, the court had said the Punjab Land Development Authority board was behind transferring a project contract to Lahore Development Authority. However, the NAB had claimed the former chief minister had misused his authority to transfer the project.

No charge of financial irregularity was imposed on Shehbaz in the Ashiana case, the verdict stated.

Similarly, the former CM had also not been accused of any financial irregularity in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case.

The court observed that Shehbaz Sharif never remained Chief Executive of the mills and granted bail to him in two graft cases of Ramzan Sugar Mills and Ashiana Housing Scheme.