LAHORE: The ‘Saaf Pani project’ of former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif has been declared “clean and transparent” by the accountability court on Saturday.

Issuing a detailed 23-page written judgement on Saturday, Judge Muhammad Sajid Ali of an accountability court in Lahore ruled that no violation or any illegality was proved in the Saaf Pani Project, declaring it as absolutely “clean and transparent”.

A few days ago the court had acquitted 16 persons including Punjab Saaf Pani Company’s (PSPC) former chairperson and PML-N leader Raja Qamarul Islam in the corruption reference pertaining to irregularities in the public sector company.

The judge now remarked that all rules and laws were followed in executing the project right from the survey to the project’s completion. Whatever changes were made to the project had through approval from the relevant committees, the judge declared.

All the changes made to the project were aimed at improvement in the project and for the benefit of the public, the judge said, adding the committees also had ensured to avoid any cost escalation.

The verdict also set aside the prosecution’s argument that the Saaf Company got on rent third floor of Ali Trade Centre belonging to Shehbaz Sharif’s daughter Rabia and son-in-law Ali Imran but never used it while paying the rent in advance.

The court said the Saaf Company did use the third floor and the company administration retained the agreement with some changes.

Raja Qamarul Islam, also a former MPA, was the prime suspect in the reference, which the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed in December 2018 against 20 persons.

Among the 20, two were foreigners and had not joined the trial and another suspect named Muhammad Tehseen, who was a former chief design engineer at Associated Consultant Engineers, died of Covid-19 during the course of the trial.

During the last hearing on January 31, the judge had acquitted Islam and 15 others of the remaining 17 suspects.

Besides Islam, former PSPC chief executive officer Wasim Ajmal, former PSPC chief technical officer Dr Zaheeruddin, former PSPC chief procurement officer Nasir Qadir Bhadal, former consultant engineer Saleem Akhtar, former KSB Pumps managing director Masud Akhtar, former housing deputy secretaries Khalid Nadeem Bukhari and Zahoor Ahmad Dogar, former PSPC chief resident engineer Major (retd) Adnan Aftab Khan, former PSPC resident engineers Moeenuddin, Syed Masoudul Hassan Kazmi and Muhammad Younas, former PSPC projects works manager Waris Malik, former senior contract engineer at Engineering General Consultants Masroor Ahmad, former PSPC Bahawalpur director Khalid Khan and former PSPC general projects and services manager Tahir Maqbool have been acquitted in the reference.

The Saaf Pani scam had surfaced after the NAB had launched a thorough probe in November 2017 into alleged corruption in the 56 public-sector companies, including the PSPC, formed by the administration in Punjab led by PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif at the time when he was the chief minister. These companies were accused of certain irregularities, recruitment in violation of procurement rules and merit, nepotism, and non-completion of various projects in time.

According to NAB, the suspects were facing allegations of awarding an illegal contract to KSB Pumps for the installation of 116 water filtration plants allegedly on exorbitant rates and mala fide involvement of PSPC officials by means of corruption and corrupt practices which caused a collective loss amounting to Rs345 million to the national exchequer.

It further said the suspects prepared the engineering cost estimates at much higher rates in connivance with consultants and officials of the PSPC, whereas weather shield applications on these plants were also approved on exorbitant rates.

The NAB said it initiated investigation against the management and officials of PSPC south and others in August 2018. During the course of investigation, it was revealed that with mala fide intentions a contract was awarded to KSB Pumps for installation of 82 water filtration plants on exorbitant rates and without proper approval of engineering estimates/ technical sanction.

The NAB alleged that an illegal addendum of 36 additional filtration plants was also approved, wherein the scope of the project was already changed. Later, electrical and solar works were also executed at exorbitant rates during installation of these plants in Bahawalpur Region, including the use of substandard material, it said.

“Investigation against the suspects also disclosed that the weather shield applied on external walls of the filtration plants in Bahawalpur was also marked on exorbitant rates, whereas, eight solar and grid-based filtration plants installed in Dunyapur tehsil were not included in the contract even in the list of four priority tehsils,” the NAB said. Earlier, the court had declared Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif’s daughter Rabia and son-in-law Imran Ali Yousaf absconders in the case.

“From assessment survey to the completion of the project, Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and regulations were fully implemented,” the verdict stated. The decision mentioned, “The former CEO Wasim Ajmal did not misused his powers and did not grant any unnecessary benefit to the co-accused.”