LAHORE: An accountability court in Lahore on Saturday declared the daughter and son-in-law of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shahbaz Sharif proclaimed offenders in the Punjab Saaf Pani Company corruption case.
Rabia Imran and her husband Ali Imran were declared PO over their prolonged absence in the case.
During the hearing, the judge directed the investigation officer to paste the advertisement announcing the suspects as POs on the walls of the court.
Imran, his wife and other members of the Sharif family are accused of renting out a state-owned building linked to the initiative, causing a loss of Rs24.7 million to the national exchequer.
A former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Raja Qamarul Islam and a civil servant, Waseem Ajmal Chaudhry, are the prime suspects in the reference. Chaudhry is the former chief executive officer (CEO) of the initiative, while Islam was its chairman.
In 2017, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) launched a thorough probe into the affairs of the 56 public-sector companies formed by Shahbaz Sharif administration in Punjab for their claimed involvement in corruption.
These companies are accused of certain irregularities, recruitment in violation of procurement rules and merit, nepotism, and non-completion of various projects in time.
There has been also a lack of performance and regular audit and non-transparent procedure of tendering in these companies which come under the direct supervision of former chief minister Sharif.
A case against these companies is also pending with the Lahore High Court (LHC). In the contention, the petitioner said: “Just in 2016, the number of companies increased from six to 56. These companies had an expenditure of Rs250 billion but no audit of these companies was ever carried out except one performance audit by the Auditor General of Pakistan.”
