LAHORE: The complainant in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his sons on Tuesday resiled from his statement during a cross-examination before an anti-corruption court.

During the hearing, the complainant, Zulfiqar Ali, appeared before the court and stated that he had no knowledge of the case. He also submitted an affidavit to the court, admitting that the construction of the wastewater drain in Chiniot did not cause any loss to the national exchequer. He further denied filing any such application originally with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the Ramzan Sugar Mills and claimed that his name was used to frame the reference.

Zulfiqar clarified that he was unaware of the details of the petition; therefore, wished to withdraw it.

Responding to the queries of a prosecutor, the complainant said he had given his current statement willingly and was not under any coercion. He said he was a resident of a village near the sugar mills in Chiniot. He claimed that NAB had already recorded his statement during the inquiry.

Judge Sardar Muhammad Iqbal asked the complainant if he was giving his statement under any pressure.

“I am stating the facts and there is no pressure on me,” Zulfiqar Ali replied to the judge.

The judge placed the complainant’s statement on record of the case and adjourned the hearing till Jan 30.

On Oct 17, an accountability court had transferred the Ramzan Sugar Mills reference to the anti-corruption court for lack of jurisdiction following amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance 1999.

NAB, after the amendment, cannot prosecute an alleged offence involving money less than Rs500m and the offence amount in the mills reference was below the minimum value.

The accountability court was informed that NAB, in its reference, had made a case of alleged corruption of Rs213m.

NAB reference filed in 2018 alleged that PM Shehbaz, being the chief minister, and his son Hamza, with the abetment of each other, had caused a loss of Rs213 million to the national exchequer by committing the offence of misuse of authority.

It said Mr Shehbaz had issued a directive for construction of a drain in district Chiniot primarily for the use of Ramzan Sugar Mills owned by his sons- Hamza and Suleman.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2025