Former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former finance minister Miftah Ismail have refused to take relief under the Amended National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance 2021 in the LNG reference on Tuesday.
At the outset of the hearing at an accountability court in Islamabad, Abbasi, who is also the senior vice-president of PML-N, appeared before the court and was allowed to leave after marking his attendance.
During the hearing, the co-accused in the reference requested the dismissal of the reference under the Amended NAB ordinance.
Barrister Zafarullah, who was representing a co-accused in the reference, maintained that the Amendment NAB Ordinance has been promulgated, therefore, he will file a petition seeking acquittal on his client’s behalf.
He contended that the non-public officeholders have also been excluded from the amended ordinance after which the case will be dealt with by the tax tribunal if it includes an issue related to the tax.
Meanwhile, a private airline’s Chief Executive Officer Chaudhry Aslam, under the status of a “private person”, pleaded before the court for the removal of his name from the reference.
At this, the NAB prosecutor argued that the exemption of cabinet affairs under the NAB Ordinance are applicable from October 6.
The court issued notice to NAB seeking a detailed reply and adjourned the hearing till October 26.
