RPP scam: Ex-PM to be indicted on Feb 8

Immunity applications will only be looked into after the indictment, says court

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court will indict former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on February 8 in the rental power projects (RPPs) scam case.

The RPPs case is about private power companies that faced allegations of having received more than Rs22 billion mobilisation advance from the government to commission the projects, but failed to set up the plants. A few of them had set up the plants, but only after an inordinate delay.

The court will also decide on the plea to grant the accused exemption from personal appearance in the three references after formally indicting him.



The former prime minister is accused of misusing his authority during his tenure as the minister for water and power to get approval from the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet for an increase in the down payment to the rental power companies from 7 to 14 per cent, amounting to about Rs22 billon.

Several former ministers, including Mr Ashraf, Liaquat Jatoi and Shaukat Tareen, and former chairman of Wapda Tariq Hameed were among those whose names had surfaced in the RPPs scam case.

Apart from them, former federal secretaries of water and power and finance Salman Siddique, Shahid Rafi, Ashfaq Mehmood, Saeed Zafar and Ismail Qureshi were also named in the case.

Accountability Judge Arshad Muhammad Malik heard corruption references of Rs238 million Reshma Power (Lahore), Rs490 million Gulf Rental (Gujranwala) and Rs430 million Young Gen (Faisalabad) power plants.

The judge inquired about the delay in progressing the case to which the prosecutor replied that it was due to legal process that the process had stalled.