By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Islamabad rejected on Thursday a plea of former Prime Minister Shahid Khan Abbasi seeking a live telecast of trial proceedings of the LNG terminal case.
Judge Azam Khan heard the case. The PML-N leader moved the plea requesting the court to allow the trial in the LNG reference filed against him and others by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to be aired live.
Ex-PM Abbasi, former finance minister Miftah Ismail, former managing director of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Sheikh Imranul Haq, ex-chairperson of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) Uzma Adil and others are named in the reference.
On November 16, the court had indicted all the accused. They pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the charges. Subsequently, the court directed the NAB prosecution to furnish evidence to back up the allegations against them.
PML-N Senior Vice President Abbasi, who served as prime minister from August 1, 2017 till May 31, 2018, is accused of awarding the LNG Terminal-1 contract in a non-transparent manner during his tenure as petroleum minister from June 7, 2013 to July 28, 2017.
