LAHORE, MAR 11 (DNA) – The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided to file an appeal against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) President and Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif’s release on bail in the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP).

Sharif has been granted bail by the Lahore High Court (LHC) against two surety bonds worth one million each in Ramzan Sugar Mills and Ashiana Housing Scheme cases.

The bureau’s office in Lahore has forwarded the details of the references and case to it’s headquarter that in turn will seek the top court’s jurisdiction for cancelling his bail.

Shahbaz was taken into custody by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore in connection with the Ashiana Housing case in October 5, 2018.

The former Punjab chief minister had been charged with misuse of authority by unlawfully assuming powers of the board of directors of the Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC), and awarding a contract to an ineligible proxy firm that resulted in the failure of the housing scheme.

 The scam caused a loss to the public exchequer and deprived 61,000 applicants of houses. The PML-N president had failed to satisfy the probing team of the bureau during the investigation before being arrested.

The anti-graft watchdog had claimed that the company did not conduct any kind of survey but nevertheless was provided a lucrative sum of Rs 1.5 billion.

Ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s principal secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad became an approver in the case. Fawad Hassan Fawad, in his statement before NAB, had claimed that he had awarded a contract to a “favourite firm” in the Rs14 billion Ashiana Housing project at the behest of Shahbaz Sharif.

The anti-graft agency said that the contract for the housing scheme was won by a construction company titled Chaudhry Latif and Sons but Sharif cancelled it and later on awarded the contract to Lahore Casa Developers – a proxy group of Paragon City (Pvt) Limited, which is said to be owned by ex-Railways Minister Saad Rafique”. =DNA