Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Ahsan Iqbal walked out of Adiala Jail yesterday evening hours after the Islamabad High Court issued their release orders.
A day earlier, the IHC had approved Abbasi and Iqbal’s bail in corruption cases against the two. The PML-N leaders were granted bails against bonds worth Rs10mn each in the cases against them.
Former prime minister Abbasi had secured bail in the LNG terminal case, while Iqbal had been granted bail in the Narowal Sports City case. The two leaders had been incarcerated at Adiala Jail.
On July 18, 2019, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested Abbasi in an alleged case of corruption while awarding a multi-billion rupee import contract for LNG in 2013, when he was the minister for petroleum and natural resources.
According to the NAB arrest warrant, Abbasi was accused of commission of the offence of corruption and corrupt practices under Section 9 (a) of National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.
On December 23, 2019, NAB had arrested Iqbal as he appeared before it in relation to the corruption case. NAB had begun investigating the complex in July 2018. It was built at the staggering cost of over Rs3,000mn.
The accountability bureau’s investigation team also visited the Narowal Sports City project in November to secure records. The mega venture was one of the primary projects developed under Iqbal during the PML-N’s tenure.
Pakistan’s former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi (right) and former interior minister and PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal wave to supporters outside the Adiala prison after being granted bail, yesterday.
