ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Tuesday said that the meeting between opposition leaders and Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa was held on the invitation of military leadership. Talking to media after appearing before Accountability Court in connection with the liquefied natural gas case, he said that the military leadership had invited parliamentary leaders for a meeting on Gilgit-Baltistan administrative affairs.
The meeting had to discuss Sartaj Aziz report on Gilgit-Baltistan reforms; therefore, presence of the PML-N president and opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif was necessary in the meeting, he said.
He said that the meeting was held during the last week, and surfaced on media on Monday last. About the NAB case against him, he said that despite passage of over two years, he did not receive copies of reference filed against him.
The reality of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had become clear to the public after reading the verdict of bail granted to him by the Sindh High Court (SHC) but not to the NAB, he said.
He said that the SHC had written in its verdict that those cases were only made for political engineering.
Chairman NAB who also had remained a judge did not learn from these decisions, he said.
Abbasi further said that the present government was afraid of public support of opposition parties.
Government is making fake cases against opposition leaders to divert attention from public protests, he said.
Former premier said that due to the NAB pressure no qualified person was ready to head any government institution.
Earlier, he appeared before Accountability Court judge Muhammad Azam Khan in LNG case along with his son Abdullah Khaqan Abbasi and other accused. During the hearing, the judge inquired that the companies included in the reference were foreign companies.
On this, the NAB prosecutor told the court that yes these companies were based outside the country.
On this, the judge said that the charge will not be framed until receiving compliance report of these companies.
The NAB prosecutor told the court that three weeks would be required for receiving of compliance report.
The judge asked that both the companies were UK based.
On this, Abbasi’s counsel Barrister Zafarullah Khan said that yes both the companies were UK based but it was not confirm that their addresses mentioned here were correct or not. The court ordered to provide copies of supplementary reference to the accused and adjourned hearing of the case till October 20.
The bureau had nominated Abbasi, his son Abdullah Khaqan, former finance minister Miftah Ismail, ex-managing director (MD) Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Sheikh Imranul Haque, Agha Jan Akhtar, former chairman Port Qasim Authority (PQA) and Saeed Ahmed Khan, former chairman Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) in the supplementary reference.
The other accused include, Aamir Naseem, former member oil OGRA, Uzma Adil Khan, chairperson OGRA, Shahid M Islam, former MD PSO, and Abdul Samad Dawood Director Engro Corporation Limited, Hussain Dawood Chairman Engro Corporation Limited, M/S QED Consultant UK through its MD Phillip Nutman, Maverick Advisory through its CEO Sana Sadiq, Muhammad Amin MD Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL), and Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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