Lahore court grants interim bail to PM's daughter, son-in-law in Saaf Pani case

LAHORE: An anti-corruption court on Thursday granted interim pre-arrest bail of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s daughter Rabia Imran and her husband Ali Imran Yousaf in a case of alleged irregularities in the Punjab Saaf Pani Company (PSPC).

The couple appeared before the court, where Judge Javed Iqbal Warraich presided over the proceedings.

The court allowed the bail petitions and sought a reply from the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) by the next hearing on May 4.

The couple had earlier been declared proclaimed offenders due to their absence from the country. They later approached an accountability court, which last week suspended their arrest warrants and allowed them to surrender before the law.

However, the case was transferred to the anti-corruption court as the accountability court lost jurisdiction following amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance.

The couple was accused of getting illegal monetary benefits by renting out their building to PSPC to establish its office.

Other suspects, including PM Shehbaz and senior bureaucrats, have already been acquitted in the case.

The Saaf Pani scam had surfaced after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had launched a thorough probe in November 2017 into alleged corruption in the 56 public-sector companies, including the PSPC, formed by the administration in Punjab led by Shehbaz at the time.

These companies were accused of certain irregularities, recruitment in violation of procurement rules and merit, nepotism, and non-completion of various projects in time.

NAB had launched a probe against Yousaf, accusing him of getting Naveed Akram appointed as chief financial officer of PSPC in violation of merit. Akram was also accused of transferring Rs120 million to Yousaf’s account.

Imran and her husband also secured interim pre-arrest bail in a money laundering case on Tuesday from a special court.

Judge Ashfaq Ahmed heard and allowed the bail petitions of the couple, subject to submission of surety bonds, and restrained the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from arresting them till May 7.