LNG reference: Court suspends Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s arrest warrant 

Islamabad: An accountability court Tuesday suspended the ‘non-bailable’ arrest warrant —issued earlier in the day— against the former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for his failure to appear in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) reference case. 

As per the details, the court suspended the warrant after receiving an application from Khaqan Abbasi.  

Earlier in the day, Judge Nasir Javed issued the arrest warrant, stating that he did not appear before the court, nor he requested for exemption from his personal appearance.  

LNG reference

The former premier is accused of awarding an LNG Terminal-I contract to a firm at Port Qasim Karachi, at exorbitant rates.

Mr. 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. 

The court had indicted all the accused in the case. They pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the charges. 

Subsequently, the court directed the NAB prosecution to furnish evidence to back up the charges against them.