Shehbaz Sharif, others acquitted in Ashiana Housing scandal

The Accountability Court of Islamabad on Saturday acquitted Shehbaz Sharif, Ahad Khan Cheema, and others in the Ashiana Iqbal Housing Project reference.

Accountability Court Judge Ali Zulqarnain Awan delivered the verdict, after accepting the acquittal pleas of former PM Shehbaz, Ahad Khan Cheema, and co-accused Fawad Hasan Fawad, Munir Zia, Imtiaz Haider, Bilal Qadwai, Sajjad Bhatta, and Shahid Mahmood.

The court ruled that it failed to establish corruption allegations against Shehbaz Sharif, Ahad Khan Cheema, and others, aligning with the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) earlier clearance of all accused.

The Supreme Court’s decision on Ashiana Iqbal did not impede the court’s independent judgment, the judgment said.

The court stated that despite amendments to NAB laws, the court conducted a merit-based hearing in the Ashiana case, finding no evidence of corruption against the accused.

NAB Prosecutor Waris Ali Janjua asserted that Ashiana Iqbal reference targeted Shahbaz Sharif for political revenge, emphasizing that he did not cause financial loss to the government treasury in the project.

Notably, Naeem Zia Pirzada and Kamran Kayani were previously discharged from the reference.

The Ashiana reference, filed in 2018, concluded with no recovery after five years, leading the lawyers to condemn the imprisonment of Shehbaz Sharif and Ahmed Cheema in what they termed a bogus Ashiana reference.