Court indicts former PM in rental power case

Ask prosecution to start presenting witnesses from next hearing on August 7

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Islamabad has indicted former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and others in a corruption case related to irregularities in hiring rental power plants during the last government of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

Accountability Court-II Judge Arshad Malik on Monday read out the charges before representative of Ashraf – the main accused in the corruption case filed by the top anti-graft watchdog, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).  As the accused rejected the allegations, the court asked the prosecution to present witnesses in the next hearing as it adjourn the proceeding till August 7.

The former premier is accused of causing a loss of Rs2,200 crore to the exchequer by using his authority to increase down payment to two companies from 7% to 14%. He also faces another case of corruption in the Nandipur power plant. In this case, the PPP leader’s acquittal plea was dismissed last week.

The same accountability court last Tuesday acquitted former law minister Dr Babar Awan and former secretary law Justice (retd) Riaz Kiyani in the Nandipur power plant corruption reference. However, it dismissed the acquittal plea of Ashraf, Riaz Mehmood, and Shumaila Mehmood.

They were accused of delaying the approval of the Nandipur project, which resulted in losses worth billions of rupees to the national kitty. Of all the seven accused in the case, five had sought acquittal, while the remaining two accused – Shahid Rafi and Masood Chishti – never filed any such pleas.