An accountability court in Islamabad Friday granted the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) 13-day physical remand of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in a mega corruption case pertaining to award of liquefied natural gas (LNG) import contracts.
Abbasi was presented before accountability judge Mohammad Bashir. NAB requested a 14-day physical remand of the PML-N leader.
“They are seeking remand, give them remand,” Abbasi said during the proceedings. “I have fully cooperated with NAB, but I was still arrested,” he complained, adding, “I know why they are asking for remand.” The former prime minister asked the court to grant NAB 90-day physical remand. However, judge Bashir said that on the basis of the law, 90-day remand cannot be granted in one go. The court instead granted the anti-graft watchdog 13-day remand of the former prime minister.
The former prime minister and a senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was arrested by the anti-graft watchdog on Thursday in a multi-billion-rupee case related to the award of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import contract. Abbasi was on his way to attend a press conference, accompanied by PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal and spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, when he was arrested at the Thokar Niaz Baig interchange in Lahore. Former prime minister Abbasi was due to appear in the accountability court at 10am on Thursday. However, he had recused himself from appearing on the pretext that he was busy to appear in the court. The arrest warrant -a photocopy of which was reportedly shown at the time of arrest – said that Abbasi was accused of commission of the offence of corruption and corrupt practices under Section 9(a) of National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999. According to the team investigating Abbasi, the former prime minister had only answered 20 out of the 75 questions he had been asked. They said that despite giving him time, Abbasi continually asked for more time to answer the questions.
In 2018, the anti-corruption watchdog had initiated an inquiry against former prime ministers Abbasi and Nawaz Sharif over alleged misuse of authority. Abbasi and others have been accused of illegally awarding LNG terminal contract for a period of 15 years to a company of their liking in violation of defined rules, ‘thus inflicting billions of rupees losses to the national exchequer’.
