ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Pakistan's Lahore has acquitted former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and 10 other accused in a housing scam case, Pakistani media reported on Saturday, amid widespread claims by rival parties that his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party was being favoured ahead of general elections.
The case first emerged in January 2018, accusing then opposition leader Sharif of ordering cancelation of a contract given to successful bidder, M/s Chaudhry Latif and Sons, for the Ashiana-i-Iqbal housing scheme, which led to the subsequent award of the contract to Lahore Casa Developers, a proxy group of the Paragon City Private Limited, resulting in a loss of Rs193 million.
Sharif was also accused of directing the Punjab Land Development Company to assign the Ashiana-i-Iqbal housing project to the Lahore Development Authority (LDA), which awarded the contract to Lahore Casa developers, causing a loss of Rs715 million and the ultimate failure of the project.
In October 2018, Sharif was arrested in connection with the case, but was later released on bail. In May this year, Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which had filed the case, declared Sharif “innocent” and said that “no evidence” of misuse of powers was found against him in the case.
After the conclusion of final arguments by the defense and prosecutors on acquittal pleas of the accused, Judge Malik Ali Zulqarnain Awan had reserved a verdict in the case on November 2, Pakistan’s Geo News channel reported.
“The acquittal applications argued that all prosecution witnesses and the approvers had withdrawn their statements, indicating no possibility of conviction in the reference,” the broadcaster reported.
“The applicants urged the court to approve the applications and clear them of the charges.”
The development comes ahead of the general elections in Pakistan, scheduled for February 8, and at a time when Sharif’s political rivals, especially the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, have accused the current caretaker administration and the military establishment of having a soft corner for Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a coalition partner in the outgoing PML-N-led government, has also made similar allegations, seeking a “level playing field” ahead of the national polls.
It also comes a month after the return of Sharif’s elder brother and three-time former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, to Pakistan after spending four years in self-imposed exile in London.
Nawaz, who was convicted of corruption in 2018, obtained protective bail ahead of his return to the country and has since secured bail in two corruption cases, while NAB gave a clean chit to Sharif in two other graft cases in May.
Sharif’s opponents see the recent judgments granting relief to the former premier and his family members as favors given to the PML-N, which appears to be poised to take over the reins of the country once again.