An accountability court in Lahore acquitted PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif, Ahad Cheema and others in the Ashiana Housing Scheme corruption case.
Accountability Judge Malik Ali Zulqarnain announced the verdict, declaring all the ten suspects in the case innocent.
The other suspects, who have been acquitted, include Fawad Hasan Fawad, Shahid Shafiq, Bilal Qadwai, Imtiaz Haider, Israr Saeed and Arif Butt.
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has filed the graft reference against the former prime minister and others in 2018, accusing them of corruption in the scheme.
Earlier this year, NAB declared Shehbaz Sharif “innocent” in the Ashiana Housing case and added that the contract for the project had no indications of corruption.
The accountability office reported that neither the national coffers nor PM Shehbaz received any financial gain from the initiative.
The anti-graft organisation declared in its study that “it is proved beyond any doubt that the treasury didn’t suffer any loss.”
In addition, it stated: “No evidence of misuse of powers was found against Shahbaz Sharif.”
The NAB assessment found no evidence of malice against the prime minister in the affair, which is expected to cause controversy regarding the watchdog’s objectivity.
