The Islamabad High Court, in its detailed order in the bail of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in the LNG reference, has noted that matter did not fall in the domain of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as the senior PML-N leader had not made any financial gain.
In a 12-page order issued on Friday by a bench headed by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and comprising Justice Lubna Saleem Pervaiz, the court noted that there was no dispute over the transparency of the LNG terminal. It added that the terminal was authorised by all the relevant forums.
The consultant for the project was paid by an American aid agency. The court pointed out that NAB had not provided any record, which proved that the consultant was appointed on Abbasi’s instructions.
The consultant was appointed as a result of correspondence between Pakistan and the US.
NAB could not explain how Abbasi could influence another independent state in the appointment of a consultant. The only material against the former premier is the statement of a former petroleum secretary as a “pardoned witness”.
The court refused to make any observation on the status of the witness's statement and the pardon he received from the NAB chairman. The court further noted that whether or not the LNG terminal was in the public interest needed further investigation.
Also read: Court gives NAB until Aug 6 to file final reference against Abbasi in LNG case
It added that NAB could not satisfy the court as to why it was necessary to keep Abbasi in custody nay further. The IHC had granted bail to the PML-N senior vice president on February 25 last year through a short order.
A day earlier, NAB challenged in the Supreme Court the decisions of the IHC regarding the bails of PML-N leaders Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal and Miftah Ismail.
NAB has filed petitions in the Supreme Court seeking revocation of bail of the three N-League members. In a petition, the apex court has been asked to quash the decisions of the IHC regarding the bails of Abbasi, Ismail and Iqbal in the LNG scandal and Narowal Sports City scandal, respectively.
During the proceedings of the case last year, NAB additional prosecutor general told the bench that Abbasi had misused his powers in LNG terminal construction project.
“The petroleum ministry even did bother to involve the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) in the entire process of the LNG import agreement,” he added.Justice Minallah asked how the anti-graft body had started this case if no public funds were used in the project. “There was no allegation of paying fees from national exchequer. What NAB would say about the company to which USAID paid fees?” he questioned.
The NAB prosecutor said the documents to hire services of this company had not been found so far. The bench asked whether the advisory firm was also paid fees by the USAID and who hired the advisory firm. The NAB investigation officer said there was no notification found yet to hire the firm.
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