Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former federal minister Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday accidentally arrived at an accountability court in Islamabad, from where he was sent back home by court staff.
As per the details, the PML-N stalwart, against whom the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has filed a reference over alleged corruption in the Narowal Sport City project, is to appear before the court tomorrow (Wednesday).
He, however, mistakenly arrived at the court a day earlier and was informed that his hearing wasn’t until a day later, after which he returned back home.
Reacting to The Current‘s report on Twitter, Iqbal said:
Iqbal was earlier also arrested in connection to the probe into the sports complex built in his hometown.
Construction of the complex, which includes a cricket stadium, gymnasium, squash and hockey ground, began in 2009 when Iqbal was in the opposition. But work picked up pace when the PML-N came to power in the 2013 election. That year, Iqbal was appointed the minister for planning and development.
Below is the charge sheet against the politician from December last year:
• Illegally increasing the cost of the Narowal Sports City complex from Rs35.410 million to Rs97.520 million, without approval from the Planning Commission’s Central Development Working Party (CDWP). Ahsan, adds NAB, was the minister of planning and development and the deputy chairman of the CDWP at the time. Rather than taking the project to the CDWP, he instead approved it on his own.
• Iqbal initiated the project without a feasibility study, which was in violation of the development manual of the Planning Commission.
• After the 18th Amendment, the project was devolved to the Punjab government in 2012 to be completed with its own resources. Yet, reads the charge sheet, funds were taken from the federal government to bankroll the complex. Iqbal, it adds, “further enhanced the scope of the project without any demand from the provincial government”.
