IHC upholds Awan’s acquittal in Nandipur reference

Says commission constituted on the orders of SC pointed out negligence not corruption in case

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday maintained the acquittal of PM’s adviser Dr Babar Awan and former secretary Justice (retd) Riaz Kayani from the accountability court in the Nandipur Power Project reference and dismissed the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) appeals in this regard.

The court also declared rejection of acquittal plea of another accused, former secretary Masood Chishti, void ab initio and admitted his application.

Awan, Kayani and others had been accused of causing a delay in the commencement of Nandipur power project.

The accountability court had on June 25 acquitted Dr Awan, who held the law minister’s portfolio in the PPP-led government, and former law secretary Kiyani in the Nandipur reference before concluding the trial proceedings.

In 2017, Dr Awan parted ways with the Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-led party and joined the PTI.

In the reference, NAB had contended that the project had faced a delay of two years, one month and 15 days, resulting in a loss of Rs27.3 billion to the exchequer.

The project, located in Gujranwala district, could not be completed and operated on time because Dr Awan and Kiyani failed to issue legal opinions, the NAB said.

The anti-corruption watchdog in its appeal had stated that the Supreme Court in 2011 constituted a judicial commission consisting of retired Justice Rahmat Hussain Jafferi to determine the responsibility for causing delay in the initiation of the project.

The commission conducted the inquiry and concluded that the law ministry caused inordinate delay in commencement of the project.

On Tuesday, a division bench of the IHC comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Babar Sattar heard the case.

The court in its written order stated that the NAB might have been influenced by the Supreme Court observations in the Nandipur case.

The IHC maintained that the apex court had not sent the Nandipur case to the NAB but the national graft buster heavily relied on the top court’s observations.

It further said that commission constituted on the orders of the top court had pointed out negligence and not corruption in the power project case.

The court asked the NAB to ensure that the bureaucrats are not degraded merely on the basis of decision-making. It further asked the anti-corruption establishment to discern between the misuse of power and corruption.

The IHC on October 5, 2020 had reserved the judgment after hearing the parties concerned.

On June 25, 2019 late judge Arshad Malik of the accountability court had acquitted both Awan and Kayani in the case and rejected Masood Chishti’s acquittal plea.