Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif addresses the groundbreaking ceremony at Jinnah Medical Complex in Islamabad on July 21, 2024. PHOTO: APP
LAHORE:
An anti-corruption court on Thursday granted interim pre-arrest bail to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s daughter Rabia Imran and her husband Ali Imran Yousaf in a case related to alleged irregularities in the Punjab Saaf Pani Company reference.
Both the accused appeared before the court, which allowed their bail pleas and directed the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) to file its reply by May 6.
The couple had previously been declared criminals due to their absence from the country. However, they later approached a court which suspended their arrest warrants last week and allowed them to surrender to the law.
Subsequently, the case was transferred to the Anti-Corruption Court after the Accountability Court lost jurisdiction following amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance.
Read more: £190m case: Imran’s lawyer asks IHC to summon IG prisons, hospital authorities with record
According to prosecutors, the couple received illegal financial benefits by leasing their private building to the company for use as office space.
Other suspects in the case, including Prime Minister Shehbaz and several senior bureaucrats, have already been acquitted.
The Saaf Pani case came to light in November 2017 when NAB launched a comprehensive probe into alleged corruption in 56 public sector companies, including the Punjab Saaf Pani Company.
The investigation highlighted allegations of irregularities, violations of procurement rules, nepotism and delays in project completion.
The Prime Minister’s daughter and son-in-law were also recently granted interim bail in another case on Tuesday in a reference related to alleged corruption in the Punjab Power Development Company (PPDC).
Background
The Saaf Pani scam had come to light after the NAB in November 2017 launched a probe into alleged corruption in the 56 public sector companies, including the PSPC, formed by the administration in Punjab led by then PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif.
NAB initiated an ‘enquiry’ against the management, officers and officials of PSPC and others. This inquiry was converted to an inquiry on August 20, 2018. During the enquiries, NAB claimed, it was found that a contract was awarded to KSB Pumps for installation of 82 water filtration plants at exorbitant rates and without due approval of technical estimates/technical sanctions.
The illegal addition of 36 additional filtration plants was also approved where the scope of the project had already changed. The civil, electrical and solar works were also carried out at exorbitant rates during the installation of these water filtration plants in Bahawalpur region, NAB had alleged.
NAB Lahore first arrested four persons – Chief Technical Officer Dr. Zaheerud Din, Chief Procurement Officer Nasir Qadir Badhal, Consulting Engineer M Saleem Akhtar and Managing Director KSB Pumps Masud Akhter on April 17, 2018.
Read also: Lahore court grants interim bail to PM’s daughter, son-in-law till May 7 in corruption case
They were followed by the arrest of Housing Minister Khalid Nadeem Bukhari on 2 May. NAB claimed that the accused revealed the involvement of other co-accused Raja Qamarul Islam and former CEO Wasim Ajmal, who was also arrested on 25 June 2018.
Later, NAB arrested five more accused during the last week of November 2018. They included former Deputy Secretary Zahoor Ahmed Dogar, former Chief Engineer Adnan Aftab Khan, Resident Engineer Masoodul Hassan, Resident Engineer Moeenud Din and Resident Engineer Muhammad Younas.
According to the reference, the accused prepared the cost estimates at much higher rates and added that the award of the contract resulted in a cumulative loss of Rs345.282 million to the national kitty.
