ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) intends to file a supplementary reference against former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in the LNG terminal case after Eid holidays.

NAB has also produced a report before an accountability court on the absconding former managing director of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO), Shahid Islam, and requested the court to declare him a proclaimed offender.

Mr Abbasi appeared before the accountability judge, Mohammad Azam Khan, on Thursday.

The investigation officer, Malik Zubair, informed the court that during the investigation into the LNG terminal project case, NAB had traced some additional evidence related to bank transactions of Mr Abbasi and his son Abdullah Abbasi.

He said that after the award of the LNG terminal contract, the bureau detected huge transactions in the accounts of the Abbasi family.

He disclosed that the supplementary reference would be based on this additional information.

The investigation officer told the court that Mr Islam was hiding in a foreign country and despite hectic efforts his whereabouts could not be known.

Subsequently, the NAB prosecutor requested the court to initiate proceedings to declare Mr Islam a proclaimed offender in this reference.

Speaking to journalists after the court proceedings, Mr Abbasi said that while coronavirus posed a serious threat to the country, the government was at loggerhead with the provinces.

He criticised NAB for being detrimental to the national economy and cohesion and said that it was a persistent stance of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) that the accountability laws should be amended.

He said that the PML-N had forwarded the proposed amendments to NAB laws to the government and now the ball was in the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s court.

Mr Abbasi expressed possibility that members from treasury benches would also face NAB cases in the future.

It may be mentioned that Mr Abbasi had remained behind bars in the LNG terminal case and was allowed bail in February this year.

The investigation into the LNG terminal case alleged that Mr Abbasi as the minister for petroleum manipulated the appointment of QED firm as consultant for the LNG terminal project.

Besides this, Mr Abbasi alco managed the appointment of Maverick Legal firm for assistance of QED.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2020