Illegal recruitment: Ex-PM seeks exemption from court hearings

Ashraf said that military courts were the need of hour in the wake of a string of bombings across the country


Our Correspondent February 18, 2017

LAHORE: Former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has sought exemption from appearing in the accountability court hearing a case against ‘illegal’ recruitment of over 400 employees in the Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco).

On Saturday, the court issued show-cause notices to the Sindh police chief for not producing the provincial chief minister in court and also took notice of the absence of the Gepco directors.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a reference against the former premier for violating the rules in recruiting 437 employees in GEPCO, alleging even those people who did not apply for the jobs were recruited ‘to increase vote bank’. Ashraf’s counsel submitted that his client should be exempted from personal appearance owing to security concerns. The court had earlier issued notices twice to Ashraf to appear in court but he disregarded the orders.

The court directed the lawyer to submit the application, adding the decision would be given after examining the application. The court has fixed March 11 for the next hearing.

Talking to reporters, Ashraf said that military courts were the need of hour in the wake of a string of bombings across the country. He said the operation against militants should not be confined to a specific region but carried out in the whole country.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19th, 2017.

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