In a major development, former Punjab chief minister and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) at its Lahore office on Friday in the Rs 14 billion Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme scam. Shahbaz is accused of committing corruption in Ashiana the Housing case in which bureaucrats Fawad Hasan Fawad and Ahad Cheema are already under arrest.
Shahbaz will be produced before an accountability court for remand on Saturday (today). He will be kept in a high-security lock-up inside the NAB Lahore office until his appearance in the court. A press release issued by NAB (Islamabad) says the National Accountability Bureau Lahore has arrested former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif in the Ashiana company case and the Bureau will present him before an accountability court on Saturday.
Sources claimed that the NAB had summoned Shahbaz on Friday where he was detained by NAB officials after questioning. However, his car and personal staff who accompanied him were allowed to go home.
After taking Shahbaz into custody, a heavy contingent of Rangers was deployed outside NAB office where supporters of the PML-N started gathering. The arrest came a little over a week ahead of by-polls scheduled for October 14.
It may be noted that Fawad Hasan Fawad, former principal secretary to the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, in his statement before NAB in August claimed that he had awarded a contract to a "favourite firm" in the Rs14 billion Ashiana Housing project at Shahbaz's behest. Shahbaz is also an accused in the Saaf Pani Company scam.
The NAB's office had again summoned him in the said case on Friday. He has previously appeared before NAB on a couple of occasions in both the cases and recorded his statements. He is accused of violating the Punjab Procurement Regularity Authority (PPRA) rules in the award of contracts in the Saaf Pani Company affairs.
In November 2017, the NAB had launched a thorough probe into the affairs of the 56 public-sector companies formed by Shahbaz administration in Punjab for their alleged involvement in corruption.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanullah termed Shahbaz's arrest a 'revenge tactic'. "There was no proof that owners of Ashiana Housing lured general public to invest their money in the scheme on the promise to allot them plots on their investment," Rana said. "Not even a single penny from the national exchequer was used to pay for the Ashiana Housing Scheme. It is just a revenge tactic against Shahbaz Sharif and Fawad Hasan Fawad."
He claimed that this move has been initiated to influence by-elections as was done ahead of the July 25 general election. "Everyone knows that the PML-N is going to clean sweep the by-polls."
Moreover, Friday proved another blow to the PML-N as it has been running in a strange history of troubles and tribulations. It is exclusively not the first time that Fridays do not augur well for the PML-N and the Sharifs.
There was Friday on July 06, 2018, when an accountability court gave ruling against the former premier and PML-N supremo Mian Nawaz Sharif and his family.
Following the arrest of Shahbaz Sharif, the PTI leaders hinted that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president's arrest is the first in a series of detentions.
Reacting to the arrest of Shahbaz Sharif, Punjab Information Minister Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan said the NAB has arrested Shahbaz Sharif on the basis of sufficient evidence against him.
Reuters adds: "This step today is a big step," he told reporters. New Prime Minister Imran Khan's party campaigned on an anti-corruption platform. Nawaz Sharif has denounced corruption cases against him and his party's leaders as politically motivated, and both brothers deny any wrongdoing. Nawaz Sharif was released from prison last month pending an appeal against his conviction. The former prime minister was arrested 10 days before the July 25 general election, which was won by cricket star turned politician Imran Khan, who now leads the new government.
"The government is afraid that the PML-N isn't broken despite all the cheap tactics," party spokeswoman Maryam Aurangzeb said, adding: "It is an attempt to influence the by-election." By-elections to fill 11 parliamentary seats and 19 provincial assembly seats are scheduled for Oct. 14. Those seats remain empty because of court-ordered delays and the ability of leading candidates to run in several constituencies at once, but only represent one.
The by-elections could affect the slim majority Khan's coalition government holds in parliament, though many of the constituencies are considered strongholds of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. The contests are considered to be closer in the provincial assemblies and could result in the PML-N winning back control of Punjab.
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