LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on bail petitions by former managing director of Lahore Waste Management Company Waseem Ajmal and four others in a corruption scam.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested Ajmal, who also served as chief executive officer of Punjab Saaf Pani Company, in Rs1 billion scam of the LWMC on Nov 19, 2019.

The anti-corruption watchdog alleged that then chief minister Shahbaz Sharif awarded a contract to a Turkish company Al-Bayrak. It said the contract on inflated rates caused a loss of over Rs1 billion to the national exchequer.

It said Ajmal being MD and team leader of the LWMC held a meeting on April 26, 2014, in which he deliberately concealed details of the contract from other board members.

The NAB also alleged that Ajmal was found involved in illegal payments of $96,000 in the name of fake exemptions. It said the LWMC initiated tendering process for outsourcing of solid waste management services in Rawalpindi and Murree in 2012.

In his bail petition, Mr Ajmal through a counsel denied the allegations by the NAB and contended that all legal requirements had been strictly observed in award of the contract.

He said the NAB had not been able to establish the charge of misuse of authority or financial gain. He alleged that the case was politically motivated.

The petitioner said three other suspects in the case had already been released on bail. Therefore, he said, the same relief of bail should also be extended to him.

After the prosecution and the petitioner’s counsel completed arguments, a two-judge bench headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi reserved its verdict.

Previously, the bench had allowed Mr Ajmal to attend national management course for his promotion in BS-21.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2020