The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to the Lahore Development Authority’s (LDA) former director general Ahad Cheema and co-accused Shahid Shafiq in a case related to the Ashiana Housing Scheme.
A three-judge bench of the apex court directed them to furnish surety bonds worth Rs1 million each to secure the bail.
During the hearing, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor opposed the bail application saying he is the main culprit in the case and therefore, he is not entitled to bail concession. To which a member of the bench Justice Sardar Tariq Masood observed whether the accused doesn’t deserve bail concession on the ground of delay causing undue hardship to the accused.
Counsel for Cheema’s lawyer contended that his client was behind bars for two years and nine months, adding its the basic principle in bail matter that bail is granted to accused person due to undue delay is caused to probe a matter.
Ahad Cheema faces multiple cases, including the Ashiana Housing Scheme scam involving Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif. He was nabbed during February, 2018 on charges of misusing authority by awarding Ashiana Housing contract worth Rs14 billion to Lahore Casa Developers, that was ineligible for the contract.
