LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif has hailed the acquittal of 16 accused, including his party leader Raja Qamaul Islam, in ‘Saaf Pani’ corruption reference on Monday.
Earlier in the day, an accountability court in Lahore acquitted 16 accused in the corruption case worth millions of rupees.
“I thank Allah Almighty for the acquittal of former MPA Raja Qamarul Islam, Waseem Ajmal and others in the ‘Saaf Pani’ case,” the PML-N president wrote on his official Twitter handle.
“The fog of political vengeance is gradually dissipating and the light of truth is spreading,” he added.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had claimed that the accused persons in connivance with each other caused loss of millions of rupees to the national exchequer.
They had installed 116 water filtration plants at exorbitant rates in Bahawalpur and mentioned false estimates of the plants in documents, the anti-corruption watchdog had alleged.
Raja had served as the chief executive officer of the Punjab Saaf Pani Company (PSPC). The PSPC is one among 56 public limited companies, formed in 2013 by the Punjab government led by then chief minister Shehbaz.
During proceedings of the case, it was revealed that despite spending millions of rupees, the company could not produce even a single drop of water. It was also revealed that important hiring was made in the company contrary to merit and unjustified perks and privileges were provided to some individuals.
Afterwards, NAB had started investigations into the case and arrested several individuals.
