ISLAMABAD: (Web Desk) Ex-managing director Punjab mineral development corporation Manzar Hayat on Friday has become approver in a case pertaining to corruption and illegal award of contracts by former Punjab minister for forestry, wildlife and fisheries Sibtain Khan.
Sources privy to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) said that a company worth Rs2.5 million in Gujranwala was shown in the papers and a multi-billion rupee contract for 500 metric tonnes of iron ore in Rajwah and Chiniot had been awarded to the company called Earth Resource Pvt Ltd.
Sabteen Khan is accused of awarding illegal contracts to a company of his choice. In July 2007, the contract was awarded to ERPL. The company was awarded the contract despite not having previous experiencing in mining.
According to the Punjab Mines Department, no other company was considered during the bidding process for the contract. The department had also appeared satisfied over having to contribute just 20 per cent to the project, which made the joint venture illegal.
The project s details had never been provided to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) although work on it was ongoing. Sibtain was behind the Rs2.5 million sale of mineral deposits worth billions of rupees to a company.
Sibtain Khan was elected as member of Punjab Assembly as an independent candidate from PP-39 (Mianwali-IV) in general election, 1990 and remained Provincial Minister for Prisons from 1990 to 1993.
He ran for the seat of the provincial assembly as an independent candidate from PP-39 (Mianwali-IV) in Pakistani general election, 1997, but was unsuccessful.
He was re-elected to the provincial assembly as a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) from Constituency PP-46 (Mianwali-IV) in 2002. In January 2003, he was inducted into the provincial cabinet of Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and was appointed as Provincial Minister of Punjab for Mines and Minerals where he remained until 2007.
