ISLAMABAD: A accountability court acquitted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a 37-year-old private property case filed by the country’s anti-corruption watchdog, Pakistani media reported on Sunday.
Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had alleged that the former premier illegally allotted 54 plots each measuring one-kanal situated in Block-H, Johar Town, Lahore when he was the chief minister of Punjab. It alleged the accused caused a loss of Rs143 million to the national exchequer through the allotment of the land.
The verdict, announced by Judge Rao Abdul Jabbar, came after the former prime minister’s lawyer contended that NAB had “malicious intentions” when it filed the reference against his client, who had no involvement in plot allotment, according to a report by English-language daily The News published on Sunday. The counsel said all other accused in the case had been cleared of charges and emphasized that even a proclaimed offender could be exonerated in the absence of sufficient evidence.
“The NAB prosecution did not raise any objections to the acquittal of Nawaz Sharif,” the report read. “After hearing the counsel, the court acquitted the former prime minister.”
Sharif, who is the elder brother of sitting Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif, was restricted for life from holding any political office by Pakistan’s top court in April 2018, followed by his conviction in a corruption case the same year. Sharif says the cases against him were politically motivated.
The three-time former premier left Pakistan for London in November 2019 after securing bail on medical grounds and has since not returned to the country, but often meets party leaders in the UK to share his input on party and national affairs.
