LAHORE:An accountability court on Monday issued notices to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for Sept 27 on an application, filed by Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan, challenging jurisdiction of the court to hear the Chiniot mines and minerals reference.
Accountability Court Judge Zubair Shahzad Kiyani heard the application, filed by the speaker.
Barrister Haider Rasool, on behalf of the speaker, argued before the court that the matter did not fall under its jurisdiction as Sibtain Khan had been accused of misuse of powers, but not corruption. He requested the court to send the reference to the bureau.
At this, the court issued notices to the bureau for Sept 27 and sought reply.
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 the bureau. The bureau had alleged that Sibtain Khan exceeded 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 that the company given the contract had a paid-up capital of Rs 2.5 million only and also lacked experience, required for the project.
The bureau had arrested Sibtain Khan on June 14, 2019 but he obtained post-arrest bail from the Lahore High Court on Sept 19, 2019.