IHC to hear Iqbal, Abbasi’s bail petitions tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) will take up bail petitions filed by former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former Minister of Interior Ahsan Iqbal on Monday (tomorrow).

A two-member bench headed by IHC Chief Justice Islamabad high court Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Lubna Saleem Pervez will rule on the pleas for bail submitted by the leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) following detention in separate proceedings.

READ MORE: Sadiq Sanjrani to visit MQM-P’s Bahadurabad office tomorrow

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi who is behind the bars for more than 190 days, Abbasi is being investigated for reportedly granting a 15-year agreement for a liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal to a Qatari company in breach of the rules and causing damages to the national exchange during his tenure as minister of petroleum in the cabinet of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

The case against Abbasi was closed in 2016 by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and later was reopened in 2018.

Similarly, in the case of the Narowal Sports City project, Ihsan Iqbal is seeking post-arrest bail.  The PML-N leader was arrested on 23 December 2019 for reportedly using federal government and Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) funds for the multi-billion rupee program in his hometown.

READ ALSO: PM Imran facing threats from his own people, not from allies: Chaudhry Shujaat

Iqbal insists that the funds allocated on the NSC were authorized by the Federal Cabinet, Parliament and the National Economic Council at that time. He said the plan for the project had been revised and expanded.