Hearing of Ashiana scam adjourned till Nov 12

Shehbaz Sharif appeared before the accountability court, says he came despite suffering from severe pain

LAHORE: The hearing of the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Society scam has been adjourned till November 12. On Thursday, Shehbaz Sharif appeared before the accountability court.

He told the court that he had appeared despite suffering from severe pain and sought an exemption from attending proceedings which the court granted.

Three witnesses appeared before the court during the hearing. Other accused persons, including former Lahore Development Authority director general Ahad Khan Cheema, were also present. The court adjourned the hearing till November 12 and asked the witnesses to re-appear.

Accountability court resumes hearing of Ashiana, mills cases today

Ashiana-e-Iqbal was initiated as a subsidised housing scheme project on a public-private partnership. In October 2018, the Lahore National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in the scam. Before that, former LDA director general Ahad Khan Cheema was arrested. Former principle secretary to the prime minister, Fawad Hassan Fawad, is also among the accused.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2019.