An accountability court in Islamabad on Tuesday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and others in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) reference. Accountability Judge Nasir Javed Rana issued the directives after the ex-prime minister failed to appear before the court today. Abbasi, ex-finance minister Miftah Ismail, former managing director Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and others were nominated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the reference.

The reference alleged that one LNG company had received benefits of over Rs21 billion because of the contract. The reference claimed that the national exchequer would suffer a Rs47bn loss by 2029 if the contract in question continued. Abbasi has termed these charges “defective”.

During the hearing on Tuesday the court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Abbasi and co-accused Uzma Adil for failing to appear before the court and not seeking an exemption for attendance. It also instructed the counsels of the accused to present their arguments at the next proceedings and adjourned the hearing till March 14.

In 2019, NAB filed a reference in the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) import contract case against 10 accused, including Abbasi, former finance minister Miftah Ismail and former Pakistan State Oil (PSO) managing director Sheikh Imranul Haq. The accountability bureau had submitted the reference in an accountability court in Islamabad. According to the reference, one company received benefits of over Rs21 billion between March 2015 and September 2019.

Abbasi was arrested in connection with the case in July 2019. He was accused of awarding a 15-year contract for a terminal against the rules when he was the petroleum minister in former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s cabinet. The case was closed by NAB in 2016 but then reopened in 2018. Later, NAB’s executive board authorised investigations against Abbasi, being former minister for petroleum and natural resources, for his alleged involvement in irregularities in the import of LNG.

However, Abbasi has said several times that he did not commit any illegality in the award of contracts for LNG import, and could, therefore, prove his innocence at any forum. He has presented the view that the import of LNG was the need of the time in 2013, when the country was facing an acute shortage of gas.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP