Verdict in Nandipur reference today

NAB prosecutor says there are no corruption charges against accused rather they are charged for delaying project

ISLAMABAD: The accountability court will announce its verdict on Tuesday (today) against bail pleas filed by five suspects of National Accountability Bureau reference pertaining to delay in Nandipur Power Project.

Former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and ex-law minister Babar Awan are among the five accused in the case.

At the start of the hearing, the AC-I Judge Arshad Malik inquired about the number of suspects in the case to which NAB prosecutor Usman Masood stated that there were seven accused in the case of who five had filed bail pleas.

NAB prosecutor informed the accountability court that the accused had committed dishonesty to delay Nandipur Power Project execution which caused a loss of Rs27 billion to the national exchequer.

He pleaded that there were no corruption charges against the accused nominated in the reference rather they were charged with committing dishonesty to delay the project.

Arguments on acquittal pleas in Nandipur reference conclude

The prosecutor stated that the project was delayed despite the orders of the then prime minister and cabinet.

He said that five accused had filed acquittal plea before the trial court and requested the judge to dismiss the case.

Raja Pervez Ashraf's counsel said the project had to hold production capacity of 425 megawatts electricity after its completion but it could not start production yet.

“NAB had initiated inquiry in 2014 but proved nothing till 2017,” he said, adding that “the bureau had deliberately waited for an appropriate time to lodge a reference”.

After completion of arguments pertaining to the bail plea filed by the suspects, the court reserved its verdict and fixed June 25 [today] for announcement of its decision.