An accountability court (AC) in Karachi on Tuesday sent the reference filed against former prime minister and PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi back to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Four people, including Abbasi, had been nominated in the reference filed in 2020 in connection with alleged illegal hiring in the Pakistan State Oil (PSO).
On the last hearing, the court had reserved its verdict on sending the reference back to the NAB.
Besides former prime minister, other accused in the case were former PSO MD Sheikh Imranul Haq, Sattar Yaqub and former federal secretary Arshad Mirza.
Sheikh Imran had filed a petition in the court for sending the case back to the bureau.
Counsels for the accused had argued before the court that it was not authorized to hear the case following amendments in the NAB ordinance.
Later talking to media, Abbasi said whether the NAB officials would be held accountable for filing a ‘fake’ case against him. “At least the anti-corruption watchdog can apologize to me,” he said, adding, “This is a challenge for the bureau chairman to discourage the practice of filing fake cases.”
