Ogra case: Court summons ex-PMs Gilani, Ashraf

NAB reference relates to illegal appointment of Tauqir Sadiq.

ISLAMABAD:

The Accountability Court on Tuesday summoned two former premiers — Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Yousaf Raza Gilani — in the multibillion-rupee Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) scam hearing, which will be held on Feb 18.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) submitted two references against the prime ministers, as well as stock market tycoon Aqeel Karim Dhedhi and former Ogra chairman Tauqir Sadiq.

In a hearing into the Rs76.6 billion scam, NAB Additional Prosecutor General (ADPG) Chaudhry Riaz Ahmed submitted a reference relating to the illegal appointment of Sadiq as chairman during Gilani’s tenure as prime minister. Ashraf was minister for water and power at the time. On November 25, 2012, the apex court struck down Sadiq’s appointment and he later departed for the UAE, where he was taken into custody and brought back to Pakistan by NAB officials. The reference also names former joint secretary of the cabinet division Sikandar Hayat Mekan, member technical for the selection process Shaukat Durrani and an Ogra selection committee member Javed Nazir. NAB’s reference states that an investigation revealed information about unaccounted-for-gas (UFG) from 5% to 7% extension in provisional CNG licences, commissions and kickbacks that Sadiq and others received.

The second reference names former Ogra members Mansoor Muzaffar Ali and Mir Kamal Mari, member finance Jawad Jameel, former staff officer Dewan Ziaur Rehman Farooqi, former SNGPL managing director Abdur Rashid Lone, Zohair Siddique, Azeem Iqbal Siddique, Syed Arsalan Iqbal, Mirza Mehmood Ahmed and Yousaf J Ansari among the accused.

The reference, available with The Express Tribune, states that Aqeel Karim Dhedhi, head of the AKD Group of Companies, was involved in illegal share business in the stock market on account of decisions taken by Sadiq while he was Ogra chairman. The criminal conspiracy for raising the UFG from 5% to 7% resulted in an increase in the share prices of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited and Sui Southern Gas Company on the stock market, the reference states.


Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2014.