Sharif likely to be indicted in Ashiana scheme scam - report

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif will be indicted in the Ashiana Housing Scheme scam on February 18, reported Dawn. Sharif, ex-DG LDA (Lahore Development Authority) Ahad Khan Cheema and former principal secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad appeared before the court while Sharif was not absent during the proceedings in the accountability court on Thursday as he was attending a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Last year, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested Shehbaz in connection to Ashiana Iqbal Housing Scheme case.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government on Wednesday also called for the resignation of Shehabaz, two months after he was elected as the chairman of the PAC. On October 5, Sharif, the brother of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was arrested by the NAB on charges of misusing authority and corruption in the Rs 14 billion Ashiana Housing Scheme during his tenure as the Punjab Chief Minister (2013 to 2018). Sharif, has, however, denied the allegations and termed them as "baseless".

(With inputs from agencies.)