Accountability court resumes hearing of Ashiana, mills cases today

Shehbaz Sharif, currently in London, may not appear before accountability court

LAHORE: An accountability court in Lahore is going to resume hearing of the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme and the Ramzan Sugar Mills cases today (Tuesday) but one of the main accused in the case, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif, will not appear before the court.

According to sources in the PML-N, Shehbaz is in London to look after his sick granddaughter and for his medical checkup and a schedule for his return to Pakistan has not been announced.

Shehbaz’s son and the Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Hamza Shehbaz – who is also a co-accused in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case – will, however, appear before the court.

On the previous hearing, both the father and the son were indicted in the Ramzan Sugar Mills reference and the court had summoned witnesses to record their statements in the case today.

Ten accused including Shehbaz have already been indicted in the Ashiana case and the process of recording statements of the witnesses is under way. According to police sources, strict security measures will be in place in view of Hamza’s appearance in the accountability court.

The PML-N workers will be stopped at the Secretariat Chowk and will not be allowed to enter the judicial complex where the accountability court is located.



The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested Shehbaz Sharif on October 5, 2018 in connection with the Ashiana scandal. Later he was also placed under arrest in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case. NAB filed a supplementary reference in the Ashiana case on Dec 22, nominating 13 people, including Shehbaz.

According to the reference, Shehbaz shifted the Ashiana Iqbal project to the public-private partnership model and did not consult the board of directors of the Punjab Land Development Company, the government company that was carrying out the project.

NAB said contract of the project, won by the Latif and Sons Company, was also cancelled by Shehbaz and other accused, who allegedly tried to give illegal financial gains to Casa Developers.

The accountability watchdog accused Shehbaz Sharif of misusing authority in Ramzan Sugar Mills case. NAB alleged that Shehbaz caused a loss of Rs210 million to the national treasury through construction of a canal and bridge just for the sake of the Ramzan Sugar Mills, his family’s private mills in Chiniot.