After an encroachment issue surfaced in July 2019, a referral was lodged against the federal minister at the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Islamabad on December 18, 2020.
The PML-N leader was detained in December 2019 and freed on bail in February of the following year. Iqbal’s request for acquittal, however, had been denied by the accountability court in February of this year.
Iqbal’s appeal was heard today by a two-judge panel that included IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minallah and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz.
The NAB investigating officer informed the court that the case was assigned to him in 2018 and that the arrest was made in 2019. This was done at the request of the IHC.
The NAB submitted the reference, according to the CJ, “without even knowing what CDWP – the technical, financial and economic studies of various projects – is.”
Have you seen the secretary’s statement, which you called as a sworn witness in the case? The judge slammed the NAB for having “stopped a public initiative” without taking the expenses into consideration.
The NAB investigative officer stated in court, “We did not halt the project.
CJ Minallah said, “Just tell us where the corruption took place.”
The NAB prosecutor informed the judge that the extra prosecutor was not there and that he would deliver the arguments; nonetheless, the judge declined to postpone the case.
The NAB prosecutor remarked in reference to the most recent NAB legislation revisions, “This case is being seen under the modified law.” The court said, “[But] the revisions have nothing to do with this case. CJ Minallah said, “Your duties called on you to investigate corruption, yet your priorities were other.
The prosecutor then informed the court that the project had been moved to the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination since it was now a provincial affair following the 18th Amendment (MIPC).
The NAB prosecutor responded to the judge’s question, “Was Ahsan Iqbal headed the MIPC,” by stating that Iqbal was the minister of planning.
The judge questioned, “So what power did Ahsan Iqbal abuse?”
“Deciding what policy should be created for whatever project is not your responsibility,”
