On Saturday, the National Accountability Bureau acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the Aashiana Housing Project, the same case for which the anti-corruption agency had already detained the PML-N leader in 2018.
According to a recent report, neither Shehbaz Sharif nor the national exchequer suffered any financial losses as a result of the Aashiana Housing project, and the country’s top anti-graft body did not discover any evidence of misappropriation in the process of awarding project tenders.
According to NAB, there is no evidence that PM Sharif abused his authority Aashiana Housing project.
The reports added that neither Fawad Hasan Fawad nor Kamran Kayani received any money from outside sources or caused any losses to the national coffers.
The accountability court in Lahore received a response from NAB in response to the premier’s request for acquittal in the case.
The hearing was later postponed until May 27 after the court summoned the attorneys for the other parties involved in the case for oral arguments.
What is Aashiana Housing scandal?
The Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme was promoted as a low-cost housing programme when it was introduced in 2011.
However, allegations of wrongdoing soon surfaced when unexplained delays in the distribution of completed units and ballots appeared.
After a period of time, some prominent politicians came under criticism in 2018 for alleged corruption and misuse of funds, sparking an investigation by the anti-graft watchdog.
PM Shehbaz was one of those accused of abusing his authority while serving as chief minister of Punjab in a probe into the Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC).
An inquiry conducted in 2018 claimed that Shehbaz Sharif as the chief minister of Punjab had unlawfully assumed powers of the Board of Directors of Punjab Land and Development Company (PLDC), misused his authority, and acted in connivance with Fawad and others.
Contracts awarded to M/s Ch. A Latif and Sons for the development and infrastructure of the Ashiana Iqbal Housing Project were illegally canceled and awarded to Lahore Casa Developers (LCD), a proxy group of Paragon City Private Limited.
Moreover, it was alleged that in a meeting on October 21, 2014, the former CM unlawfully directed PLDC to entrust the project of Ashiana Iqbal Punjab to the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) — which was headed by his close aide Ahad Khan Cheema.
This decision of Sharif was considered mala fide as the PLDC was the company that was established for undertaking such housing projects.
All three of the main accused were among those arrested — and subsequently released — during the investigation in 2018.
In September last year, the accountability court — on the PM’s application — granted him a permanent exemption from appearance in the reference.
Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif born on 23 September 1951 is a Pakistani politician and businessman who is currently serving as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan, in office since 11 April 2022. He is the current president of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N). Previously in his political career, he served as the Chief Minister of Punjab three times, making him the longest-serving Chief Minister of Punjab.
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