ISLAMABAD: Former finance minister and PML-N leader Miftah Ismail on Wednesday filed in the Islamabad High Court a petition seeking pre-arrest bail in the LNG contract case.

He had earlier filed a petition but withdrawn it after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) informed the IHC that his arrest warrants were not issued.

In the fresh petition, Mr Ismail said that “despite no new evidence having come forth, nor any new discovery been made, without any change whatsoever in the status of inquiries…”, the bureau had issued him a new call-up notice on July 15 in connection with the “inquiry against the authorities, including minister for petroleum and natural resources, concerned secretary and others, regarding illegal award of LNG terminal-1 to Engro Energy Terminal Private Limited”.

According to the petition, the call-up notice was delivered to the petitioner at 3pm on July 18 whereas he was asked to appear before an investigation team at 10am the same day, and it was physically impossible for him to attend in time, adding that the notice was intentionally delayed to legitimise the issuance of arrest warrants.

It said the petitioner intended to acquire the necessary protections from the court to save him from becoming collateral damage.

Mr Ismail and former PSO managing director Sheikh Imranul Haq have already obtained seven days’ protective bail from the Sindh High Court in the LNG case.

Meanwhile, Imranul Haq also filed a pre-arrest bail plea in the IHC, contending that he had no role in the award of the LNG contract.

The IHC will take up the two petitions on Thursday (today).

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2019