MIftah Ismail granted interim bail till August 1 in LNG case

He stated that his clients were not involved in any irregularity or corruption related to LNG import agreement

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday granted interim bail till August 1 to former finance minister Miftah Ismail and former managing director of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) corruption case.

A division bench, comprising acting chief justice Aamer Farooq and Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, accepted the pre-arrest bail against surety bonds worth Rs500,000 each.

At the outset of hearing, the petitioners' counsel pleaded that Ismail was currently on protective bail granted by Sindh High Court (SHC).

He stated that his clients were not involved in any irregularity or corruption related to the LNG import agreement. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), he added, had served call-up notices to the petitioners on July 15, and then issue arrest warrants against them on July 16.

The counsel said that NAB had told a court previously that Miftah Ismail would not be arrested. He prayed to the court to stop NAB from arresting the petitioners till the conclusion of the investigation and the filing of reference. The bench accepted the bail and also sought reply from NAB.

Earlier, the Registrar Office of the IHC raised objections over the petitions of Miftah Ismail and Imranul Haq Shaikh and asked them to file their pleas again after rectification. However, the IHC bench later heard the petitions along with objections.

During the hearing, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) leaders Marriyum Aurangzeb and Musadiq Malik were present in the court. In the same case, NAB had already arrested former prime minister and PML-N Senior Vice President Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.