Former PM Abbasi criticises arrest of PML-N's Qamarul Islam

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday criticised the arrest of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s ticket holder from NA-59 Rawalpindi-III in connection with Punjab Saaf Pani Company corruption case.

Engineer Qamarul Islam, who has served as the chairman of the Saaf Pani Company, is accused of having awarded contracts for 84 water treatment plants at a higher price.

Speaking to the media outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC), the former premier said that Islam's arrest was 'unfortunate.'

"I request the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to release Islam immediately," Abbasi said, adding that it was regrettable that a person who had never been probed was arrested all of a sudden.

He further remarked that only alleged issues in Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz were being highlighted.

Discussing the upcoming polls, Abbasi observed that questions were being raised on the transparency of the election.

"Justice should be served, and it should be visible," he said. "Nawaz has appeared for a hundred hearings till date but like I had earlier said, there is no hope of Nawaz getting justice."

The arrest of Islam, the PML-N's candidate from NA-59, was criticised by the party supremo Nawaz Sharif and spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb.

Abbasi allowed to contest election from NA-53

The Islamabad Election Tribunal on Tuesday cleared Abbasi to contest the upcoming polls from the NA-53 Islamabad-II constituency.

The returning officer for Islamabad’s NA-53 constituency had rejected Abbasi’s nomination papers on June 19. According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Abbasi did not complete the affidavit of the nomination forms.

PTI chief Imran Khan and Ayesha Gulalai's nomination papers for the constituency were also rejected on the same grounds.

Justice Moshin Akhtar Kayani, who was hearing the appeal, overruled the returning officer's verdict.