Accountability court fixes hearing of cases against former PMs, president Thursday

ISLAMABAD : The accountability court in Islamabad has fixed the hearing of cases against three former prime minister and president on Thursday (tomorrow). The accountability court summoned former premier and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz’s (PML-N) senior vice president, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, in Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) case. It is noteworthy to mention here that the 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. According to the anti-corruption watchdog, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, in 2013, had awarded a LNG import and distribution contract to the Elengy Terminal in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and relevant laws. Former prime ministers including PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senior politician Yousaf Raza Gillani have been summoned in the hearing of Toshakhana case. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has also summoned former president and PPP vice president Asif Ali Zardari in Toshakhana case tomorrow.The NAB had filed a reference with the accountability court against the former heads of the state for not depositing luxury vehicles and valuable gifts received from the foreign leaders in the treasury. NAB sources said that former president Asif Ali Zardari had only paid 15 per cent of the total cost of the vehicles received as gifts through fake accounts. Zardari had received expensive cars as a gift from Libya and the UAE as president but did not deposit it in the Tosha Khana, the sources added. Nawaz Sharif and Yousaf Raza Gillani had also received cars as a gift from different foreign leaders as prime ministers and used it themselves instead of depositing them in the treasury. Owners of Omni Group, Khawaja Anwar Majeed and Khawaja Abdul Ghani Majeed were also nominated as accused in the reference.