ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Friday extended the judicial remand of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former finance minister Miftah Ismail till October 28 in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) case.
Talking to media after the hearing, Abbasi said that there are no corruption charges against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders and that the government is seeking political revenge through fake cases.
The state is becoming dishonest with its own people, he added.
Abbasi claimed that the retired bureaucrats are being threatened to become approver in cases against PML-N. We will continue to bear this injustice against us, he asserted.
Responding to a question related to Azadi March, he said that decision of participating in the anti-government protest will be taken by the party leadership.
It merits a mention here that the apex court on Sept 10 last year directed the NAB to complete the inquiry against Abbasi and others for the alleged corruption in the LNG contract.
Abbasi is accused in the case pertaining to the awarding of a multi-billion rupee liquefied natural gas (LNG) import contract.
In June 2014, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), a government agency which comes under the jurisdiction of Petroleum Division of which Abbasi was minister back then, had issued a license to Elengy Terminal Pakistan Limited (ETPL) – a subsidiary of Engro Corp – to construct a terminal at Port Qasim for landing and re-gasification of LNG.
In June 2018, the NAB approved inquiry against former premier Nawaz Sharif and Abbasi, who was the former minister for petroleum and natural resources at that time, in granting contract of LNG terminal for 15 years to their ‘favorite’ company.
It was also observed that this contract had allegedly caused a loss of billions of rupees to the national exchequer.
In January, the NAB interrogated former finance minister Miftah Ismail in the same case.
