LAHORE: An accountability court in Lahore declared the Saaf Pani project of former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government in Punjab, once subject of a much-hyped National Accountability Bureau (NAB) probe on corruption and gross mismanagement charges, “clean and transparent”.
In its detailed 23-page verdict released on Saturday, Judge Sajid Ali Awan ruled that no violation or illegal activity could be proved in the investigation.
A few days ago the court had acquitted 16 persons, including Punjab Saaf Pani Company’s (PSPC) former chairperson and PML-N leader Raja Qamarul Islam, in the corruption reference pertaining to irregularities in the public sector company.
The judge declared that all relevant rules and laws were followed in executing the project right from the beginning to its completion. Whatever changes were made to the project were made after formal approval from the relevant committees, he added.
All the changes were aimed at improvement in the performance and for the benefit of the public, the judge said, adding the committees also had ensured to avoid any cost escalation.
The verdict also set aside the prosecution’s argument that the Saaf Pani Company rented the third floor of a plaza belonging to former chief minister Shehbaz Sharif’s son-in-law Ali Imran but never used it while paying the rent in advance.
The court observed the company did use the property and its administration retained the agreement with some changes.
Last month, the judge acquitted 16 persons, including the company’s former chairperson and PML-N leader Raja Qamar ul-Islam, in the reference.
Islam was the prime suspect in the reference, which the anti-graft agency filed in December 2018 against 20 persons. He was arrested by the NAB in June 2018 but was released on bail granted by the Lahore High Court (LHC) on January 30, 2019.
The NAB claimed that Islam, being chairman of the company, was involved in awarding contracts of 84 water filtration plants at inflated prices. It said the suspect got the contracts of 102 plants approved by the company’s board of directors and committed forgery in the documents.
