ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday granted bail to former finance minister Miftah Ismail in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) case.
A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mian Gul Hassan approved the bail for the PML-N leader against surety bonds worth Rs 10 million.
During the hearing, the chief justice observed that there is no need to keep a person accused of a white-collar crime behind bars.
Miftah Ismail, who has been in Adiala Jail on judicial remand, was taken into custody by the anti-corruption watchdog on August 7 when this court declined his request to extend his interim bail in the case.
Ismail filed the bail petition after the high court granted bail to former managing director of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Sheikh Imranul Haq, a co-accused in the same case.
In his petition Ismail made the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Secretary of Law as party.
Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Miftah Ismail, ex-PSO MD Imranul Haq and others are facing charges of corruption over awarding a LNG import contract allegedly at exorbitant rates in 2015, which caused a big loss to the national exchequer.
NAB sources said that Abbasi, in 2013, had awarded a LNG import and distribution contract to the Elengy Terminal in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and relevant laws.
With input from INP
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