LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) was surprised to know on Tuesday that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had made the Ramzan Sugar Mills scam mastermind its star witness.

A division bench comprising Justice Malik Shahzad and Justice Mirza Waqas was hearing the bail petition filed by Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif.

Extending his arguments on the bail plea, NAB Special Prosecutor Akram Qureshi claimed that Shahbaz Sharif as chief minister approved and released funds for the construction of drain and former MPA Maulana Rehmatullah had constructed it at a cost of Rs213 million.

Justice Rauf observed that prima facie Mr Rehmat had been used as a tool in the case as he had not uttered a single word against the sugar mill in question.

The court repeatedly asked the NAB prosecutor about the inclusion of Mr Rehman as star prosecution witness but Mr Qureshi remained unsuccessful to give a satisfactory answer.

He, however, pointed out that no step had been taken for draining out the contaminated water from the sugar mill.

Mr Qureshi in his arguments said that under the notification issued on Oct 26, 1981, in case an industrial unit is set up beyond the jurisdiction of municipal corporation or municipal committee, the owner of the factory would be responsible for all arrangements for draining out contaminated water. He said Ramzan Sugar Mills was also constructed away from jurisdiction of municipal corporation but the public money was used to construct drain and bridge.

Upon query of court, Mr Qureshi said Hamza Shahbaz was also an accused in the reference. He claimed that Hamza is the owner of the mill and its contaminated water caused hepatitis in nearby villages.

The bureau has not issued his arrest warrants as he is cooperating with the NAB in the investigation. “NAB only issues arrest warrants of the accused for non-cooperation in the investigation,” he claimed.

When asked whether the NAB had secured the revenue record of the drain, the prosecutor replied that no record was maintained as the land belonged to the HED. He said the drain was intentionally diverted towards the mill.

He said Rs40 million were spent out of the national exchequer for the construction of the bridge over the river in order to facilitate the mill owned by the Sharifs.

The counsel for Shahbaz said the drain was constructed to benefit seven localities and not the mill. He pointed out that the mill was set up 25 years ago and the inhabitants of the area did not complain about the sewerage system.

He said not a single witness had nominated Shahbaz Sharif as accused, adding that the Punjab Assembly had approved the scheme for the construction of drain.

However, in response to a court query, he could not present gazette notification of the scheme. He said according to the Supreme Court’s decision, a complaint should be disposed of in three months but the NAB made no progress on the complaint against Shahbaz Sharif since 2016.

He claimed that Shahbaz Sharif’s arrest under section 24-A of the NAB Ordinance 1999 was illegal because after arrest in one case a person could not be nabbed in another case.

He alleged that the accountability watchdog had filed a politically motivated reference against his client.

Meanwhile, the court after completion of arguments from both sides adjourned the hearing until Wednesday (today). The counsel for Fawad Hassan Fawad would present his arguments.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2019