LAHORE:An accountability court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of Chiniot mines and minerals case till January 21.
Accountability Court Judge Sajjad Ali conducted the case proceedings, wherein provincial minister Sibtain Khan and other accused appeared.
The defence counsel, Barrister Haider Rasool, extended his arguments on the acquittal applications, saying that the amended NAB Ordinance was also applicable to the old cases. He submitted that the mining contract was not awarded during 2007 when Sibtain Khan was a minister for mines and minerals in the PML-Q government.
He submitted that the contract was awarded during the interim government period. He pleaded with the court to acquit the accused of the charges.
However, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor argued that the initial work of the contract started during the tenure of Sibtain Khan and the accused gained monetary benefits from it. He pleaded with the court to dismiss the acquittal application.
Subsequently, the court adjourned further hearing till Jan 21 and asked parties to advance further arguments on the next date of hearing.
Sibtain Khan and other accused had filed acquittal applications, saying that after the New Amended NAB Ordinance, the reference did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Bureau.
Besides Sibtain Khan, Salman Ghani, Muhammad Aslam, Abdul Sattar Mian and Imtiaz Ahmad Cheema had been named as the accused in the reference, filed by National Accountability Bureau .The Bureau had alleged that Sibtain Khan misused his powers and awarded a multi-billion contract to a firm of his choice during 2007 when he was minister for mines and minerals in the PML-Q government. The bureau stated the company that was given the contract had a paid-up capital of Rs 2.5 million only and also lacked the experience required for the project.
The Bureau arrested Sibtain Khan on June 14, 2019 but he obtained post-arrest bail from the Lahore High Court on Sept 19, 2019.