Skip to main content

NEWS : Five witnesses cross-examined in Ashiana housing scam case

 



LAHORE: An accountability court on Thursday completed cross-examination of five witnesses in Ashiana housing scam case, ARY News reported.

The hearing was conducted by the judge Amjad Nazir Chaudhry.

The accountability court summoned more witnesses of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the case and adjourned further hearing until January 14.

It may be noted here that the court had earlier given exemption to Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif and another accused Fawad Hasan Fawad from personal appearance in the hearing .

The court has extended the judicial remand of accused Ahad Cheema and co-accused Shahid Shafiq.

On November 25 last year, the Supreme Court had granted bail to the Lahore Development Authority’s (LDA) former director general Ahad Cheema and co-accused Shahid Shafiq in a case related to the Ashiana Housing Scheme case.

Ahad Cheema is facing multiple cases including the Ashiana Housing Scheme scam involving Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif.

He had been arrested in February, 2018 on charges of misusing his authority by awarding Ashiana Housing contract worth Rs14 billion to Lahore Casa Developers, that was ineligible for the contract.

According to the NAB reference around 16,000 people had deposited 610 million rupees for Ashiana Iqbal Housing scheme and the project could not be started even after three years.

The national exchequer suffered over 640 million rupees losses in the project, the NAB charged in its reference.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

NEWS: Construction incentives

  Construction incentives A lacklustre economic performance and Covid-19 were compelling factors to announce a special incentive package for the construction sector by the prime minister on April 3, 2020. Promotion of construction as an industry was the hallmark of this announcement. The recently announced extension in the incentive package for another year, along with an amnesty for another three months, has also been well appreciated by the Pakistani business community. The amnesty scheme was introduced for the construction sector and people were allowed to invest in the real-estate sector without disclosing the source of income. It attracted a good number of builders and contractors, who started investing in this sector, and generated healthy competitive economic activity. But it was a time-bound scheme – supposed to last till December 31, 2020. Now that the government has extended the facility, that’s really an appreciable step in the right direction. The salient features of th...

NEWS: 28 buildings sealed for illegal commercial use

LAHORE : Lahore Development Authority (LDA) carried out a grand operation against illegal commercialisation and sealed 28 properties in various localities here on Saturday. Officials said the operation was carried out on the direction by Lahore Development Authority Director General Ahmed Aziz Tarar. They said the staff of Town Planning Zone 1 conducted a grand operation against illegal commercial use of residential buildings in different areas of the city and sealed a total of 28 properties at various locations. These included 10 properties in New Muslim Town and nine each in Shadman and Shah Jamal areas. Meanwhile, Lahore Development Authority announced a pre-bid conference of contractors, interested in construction of 4,000 apartments under Lahore Development Authority City Naya Pakistan Apartments scheme. The conference will be held on Monday at the committee room of Engineering Wing, LDA office Johar Town. Tenders for this project will be opened on February 10, 13, 17 and 20. Laho...

NEWS: Pakistan set to begin Gwadar shipyard project

Pakistan has finalised the details for the construction of a new shipyard in Gwadar, the country’s deep seaport in Balochistan, with an aim to incentivise commercial shipbuilding and repair industry, create new jobs and spur economic growth. Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments have announced a joint collaboration by signing an MoU for the establishment of Gwadar shipyard. The project in the strategically located Gwadar city is of “great regional importance” and also significant for the socio-economic development of Balochistan and overall Pakistan as it will “create employment for the locals” and boost revenue generation for the province, said Federal Minister for Defence Production Zobaida Jalal.  Gwadar shipyard will offer shipbuilding and repairing as well as training facilities benefiting the whole region, she said. The project, which will begin after the completion of its feasibility study, is expected to take at least two to three years, officials say. Balochistan C...