Court reserves decision on Shehbaz's bail plea in Ashiana case

An accountability court reserved its decision on Wednesday on the bail application of former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and other accused in the Ashiana housing society case. The decision is scheduled to be announced on November 7.

The court also approved a one-day exemption from attendance plea for Ahad Khan Cheema, the now special advisor to the caretaker prime minister.

The hearing was presided over by Judge Malik Ali Zulqarnain.

During today's hearing, NAB prosecutor Waris Janjua presented his evidence, stating that as per the record available there was no possibility of proving the accused guilty. He further expressed his accord with the findings of the investigation report.

Cheema, who was formerly the director general of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) had sought a one-day exemption from attendance, explaining that as an advisor to the caretaker PM he was in Islamabad to fulfill his official responsibilities.

Accused Munir Zia's lawyer presented arguments on the bail application, contending that NAB's reference was based on malice. The construction process in the Ashiana case was conducted transparently, the advocate added, requesting the court to accept the bail application.

Read NAB clears PM in Ashiana case

During the previous hearing, the court had sought arguments on the accused's bail applications today. The advocate for former PM Shehbaz Sharif, Amjad Pervaiz, had asserted at the last hearing that NAB cases against Shehbaz were politically motivated, adding that the issue of political engineering had also been addressed by the Supreme Court in one of its judgments.

Advocate Amjad stated that no allegations against Shehbaz can be proven since NAB did not have the complete record. Furthermore, he argued that there was no material evidence presented against Fawad Hasan Fawad and Ahad Cheema. Thus, rejecting any notion of the allegations being proven correct.

The court has already acquitted two accused, Nadeem Zia and Kamran Kiani, in the case, and granted Shehbaz permanent exemption from appearing in court.

The lawyers for Shehbaz and other accused have already completed their arguments over the bail applications.

Besides the former premier, the accused in the case include Fawad Hasan Fawad, Ahad Cheema, Shahid Shafiq (Chief Executive of Bismillah Construction Company), Bilal Kadwai, Imtiaz Haider, Israr Saeed, and Arif Butt, among others.

Previously, the court had indicted 10 accused in the Ashiana case.

The reference alleged that 16,000 low-income citizens invested Rs610 million in the housing scheme. The Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC) entered into a contract on January 20, 2015, which resulted in the government incurring losses of more than Rs645 million due to the incompetence of the companies.