Ahsan Iqbal acquitted by IHC in NAB’s NSC corruption case
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) scrapped a National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) reference against Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and acquitted the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader in the Narowal Sports City (NSC) case.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz heard the acquittal plea of Mr. Ahsan Iqbal and through a short judgment allowed the petition and subsequently quashed the reference.
In the reference filed in November 2020, Ahsan Iqbal was accused by the accountability watchdog of misusing authority by funding a provincial government project Narowal Sports City in his constituency and illegally increasing its scope from Rs. 34.75 million to Rs. 3 billion.
According to the prosecution, the Central Development Working Party (CDWP), headed by Mr. Iqbal, had initially approved the Narowal project at a cost of Rs. 34.74m in 1999.
“The same year on his “illegal” directive to the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and the National Engineering Services Pakistan, the project`s scope was enhanced to Rs 97.52m. Subsequently, the project was shelved, but it was resumed in 2009 at a cost of Rs732 million, and the project was later devolved to the provincial government after the passage of the 18th Amendment” the accountability watchdog took the stand in the petition.
During the hearing, the high court asked NAB officials to substantiate the corruption allegations against the PML-N leader.
The prosecutor replied that the additional prosecutor general, Jahanzeb Khan Bharwana, was not available to present arguments and sought adjournment.
Ahsan Iqbal acquitted by IHC in NAB’s NSC corruption case
However, the IHC bench refused to postpone the hearing and quashed the NAB’s reference against Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and acquitted Mr. Ahsan Iqbal in the Narowal Sports City (NSC) case.
After getting a clean chit from the high court, Ahsan Iqbal expressed his resolve to complete the NSC project to provide a state-of-the-art sports facility to the people of Narowal and adjoining areas.
He added that the NAB reference had caused losses of millions of rupees.
Mr. Ahsan Iqbal also alleged that the former prime minister Imran Khan and former NAB chief Javed Iqbal had launched a campaign against the PML-N leadership and this reference was part of that “NAB-Niazi alliance”.
