In a corruption case involving an LNG deal, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was found not guilty by an accountability court in the federal capital.
Responsibility The referral against Abbasi, former finance minister Miftah Ismail, and other individuals was heard by Judge Nasir Javed. Deputy prosecutor Azhar Maqbool of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Abbasi’s attorneys showed up for the hearing.
The NAB told the court during the hearing that it had made the decision to remove the reference against the former premier and other parties.
The accountability court cleared Abbasi and other defendants in the case while pronouncing the decision on the NAB petition.
In December 2019, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed a reference against nine other suspected parties in the LNG crisis, including Mitfah Ismail and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
The former prime minister is accused of embezzlement and of giving an LNG import contract at inflated prices in 2015, which resulted in significant financial losses for the country’s coffers. According to the indictment, he had given a company in which he was a stakeholder a tender valued at Rs. 220 billion.
