Accused in Saaf Pani case sent on 14-day remand

Both accused to be presented in court on July 9

ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE: An accountability court on Tuesday handed over the chairman of the Saaf Pani Company and the CEO of PSPC to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) authorities on 14 days remand.

"Both suspects were arrested on solid evidence," said a NAB spokesperson. He added that the actions of the suspects are deemed to be a violation of the Punjab Procurement Rules 2014.

CEO PSPC Waseem Ajmal is accused of setting up eight filtration plants illegally in the Dunyapur tehsil. Whereas, according to the contract, the stated area did not fall under the jurisdiction. He is also accused of other corrupt practices and allegedly provided Rs 24.7 million to Ali and Fatima Private Limited with the approval of the board of directors, and paid the amount on the pretext of office rent while the office was unoccupied.



However, former PSPC Chairman Qamarul Islam is accused of illegally giving the contract of 84 water treatment plants at high prices. "There were 56 river osmosis plants and 28 filtration plants," NAB spokesperson revealed. The water plants were to be set up in four tehsils which included Hasilpur, Manchanabad, Khanpur and Lodhran.

The hiring of Ajmal as CEO was also deemed illegal. The court ordered to present both the suspects, Islam and Ajmal on July 9.



Former PM Abbasi terms Qamarul Islam's arrest as an insult to election

However, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi termed the arrest of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Islam as pre-poll rigging. He also demanded the immediate release of the candidate who is contesting in Rawalpindi's NA-59 constituency against the estranged PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

Abbasi expressed his reservations at the development saying it would cast doubts at the conduct of fair and free elections. “He had obtained clearance from NAB to contest polls and submitted the clearance letter with his nomination papers. His arrest is unfair and an insult to elections. What should I call it other than pre-poll rigging,” the former premier said.

Abbasi added NAB should wait until the elections are over otherwise these developments would cast doubt on election’s transparency. He also claimed that NAB was being selective and targeting the PML-N.

When asked about Nawaz Sharif’s application for exemption from personal appearances in the accountability court, Abbasi said Sharif had put in around a hundred appearances in the court and was not escaping from the trial.

Earlier on Tuesday, former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif did not turn up before a combined investigation team of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) that is investigating into the PSPC.