Former housing minister grilled by NAB

CIT also hands over questionnaire which has to be filled in

LAHORE: Former Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Public Health Engineering Tanveer Aslam Malik appeared before the National Accountability Bureau Lahore (NAB) on Monday to record his statement in the Punjab Saaf Pani Company (PSPC) case.

NAB had summoned him to appear before a Combined Investigation Team (CIT) at NAB complex Thokar Niaz Beg and answer questions of the team. The bureau believed that he possessed information and evidence related to the case. He was grilled by CIT and was also handed a questionnaire to be filled and submitted to the bureau.

The project was initiated by the government of Punjab to provide clean drinking water to people. The Supreme Court of Pakistan had taken up the case during a suo motu notice related to public health care. During the proceedings of the case, it was revealed that not a single drop of clean drinking water could be provided to the public despite millions being spent. It was further revealed that irregular appointments, irregularities and embezzlements were also made in the project.



Punjab Saaf Pani Company was among 56 companies NAB had been investigating for corruption since November 2017 after Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal had taken upcharge.

In the case, NAB arrested engineer Qamarul Islam, a PML-N candidate from NA-59 (Rawalpindi). The bureau had earlier detained four other suspects in the case. Describing the grounds of the arrest of Qamar, NAB said they found that the accused, serving as chairman of the company, was involved in purchasing of water filtration plants at higher rates.

Physical remand extended

An accountability court on Monday extended the physical remand of Engineer Qamarul Islam and Waseem Ajmal for another 14 days.

Earlier, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials produced both the accused before the accountability court of Judge Syed Najamul Hassan on the expiry of their initial remand.

NAB prosecutor submitted that investigations were in progress and an extension of the remand was required. However, the defence counsel opposed the request, saying the accused were arrested on baseless allegations and no evidence was available against them. However, the court, after hearing the arguments of both sides, extended the physical remand for another 14 days and directed officials to produce the accused on the expiry of the term.

The court also permitted Qamar to get a new cheque book and issue cheques for election expenses while allowing an application for the purpose. It is pertinent to mention here that Islam, the PML-N ticket holder from NA-59 Rawalpindi-III, is contesting against Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and has served as the chief executive officer of the Saaf Pani Company.

He is accused of having awarded contracts for water treatment plants at a higher price. His predecessor Ajmal is also accused in the case. Saaf Pani Company is one among 56 public limited companies, formed by the Punjab government soon after PML-N assumed power in 2013.  All these companies are now being probed by NAB.

With additional input from APP

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2018.