RPP case: NAB submits reply

Zulqarnain had sought bail saying the bureau has already completed investigation

ISLAMABAD: In compliance with an earlier order, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday submitted a sealed report on how a Turkish mobile power plant left Pakistan despite a Supreme Court (SC) order restricting its movement.

NAB submitted the report as well as a reply on the bail-after-arrest application of Raja Babar Ali Zulqarnain, an Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly member, before a division bench of the Islamabad High Court. The bench comprised Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani.

The bench had directed the bureau to submit a report on how the ship left Pakistan despite SC’s orders and file comments on Zulqarnain’s bail application.

Justice Siddiqui remarked that the SC had directed Karkey Karadeniz Elektrik Uretim (KKEU) representatives to ensure that the ship stays within the remits of Pakistan, but it has sailed back to Turkey. The court had directed NAB to inform the court who had authorised the removal of the ship.

Accused Zulqarnain is the son of a former AJK president and is in jail on judicial remand in a rental power project (RPP) scam case. He had moved the court against NAB saying that the bureau had already completed investigations and that he should now be released on bail.

According to the anti-graft body, Zulqarnain facilitated contracts between the federal government and the company for electricity supply from a ship-mounted power plant in his capacity as a local representative for KKEU.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2016.