Lahore: Following the changes in the country’s accountability laws, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif got relief as the accountability court has stopped the proceedings in a 2019 corruption case and sent it back to the anti-graft body.
A corruption case was filed against Shehbaz and his son Hamza in February 2019 by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
As per the NAB, Shehbaz, during his tenure as Punjab’s chief minister allegedly misused power to construct a 10-km sludge carrier in Chiniot district to help the Ramzan sugar mill owned by Hamza.
This has caused a loss of PKR 21.3 crore (USD 948,565) to the national exchequer, as per NAB.
“After the amendment to the NAB laws passed by the Parliament, this case has been closed as the case does not fall in the domain of the accountability court,” said Advocate Amjad Pervaiz, the prime minister’s counsel.
“As per the amendment, the corruption cases below PKR 50 crore will not be taken up by an accountability court and in this case, there are charges on the duo for over PKR 20 crore,” he further added.
