On Tuesday, the apex court ordered NAB to arrest the 16 people accused in the RPPs case – including PM Ashraf. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
Despite the Supreme Court’s (SC) clear orders, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has failed to arrest Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and the other accused in the rental power plants (RPPs) case. The anti-graft watchdog also failed to file a reference before the Rawalpindi Accountability Court within the stipulated period, The Express Tribune has learnt.
On Tuesday, an apex court bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, ordered NAB to complete all necessary formalities in order to arrest the 16 people accused in the RPPs case – including PM Ashraf – and file the reference within the ‘course of a day’.
However, the bureau made no such move by the time this report was filed. A high-level NAB meeting, presided by bureau chairman Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari, convened in this regard, continued till late Wednesday night. When contacted after the meeting, the NAB spokesperson refused to share any details with the media before the bureau submits its reply before the SC today (Thursday).
According to NAB sources, the meeting’s participants — which included the NAB deputy chairman, prosecutor general accountability, NAB Rawalpindi director general and investigation wing director, and the officers investigating the case – examined all investigation reports pertaining to the case. These included reports, presented before the SC earlier, which suggest the filing of at least two references against over a dozen accused. Sources told The Express Tribune that PM Ashraf was named as an accused in both the references.
The NAB investigation report regarding dubious deals and misappropriation in the Piranghaib-Multan RPP case named 16 individuals as accused. In addition to PM Ashraf, these include former finance minister Shaukat Tareen, former finance secretary Salman Siddique and former water and power secretary Shahid Rafi, among others. Another report, regarding the Sahiwal-Sialkot RPP case, names as many as 22. PM Ashraf, as well as former water and power secretary Rafi, are again mentioned among the accused.
PM Ashraf’s offences mentioned in the reports include misusing authority to obtain the approval of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) and the federal cabinet, intentionally failing to exercise authority to prevent undue benefits and favours, and issuing an illegal policy to increase a down-payment in violation of Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules, the sources told The Express Tribune. These facts were also recorded by the SC in its judgment dated March 30, 2012.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2013.
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Let's put Mr NAB behind bars.... maybe that'll help
SC should take this matter on top priority because since NAB chief said the reports were not complete and had no evidences. Mr.Fasih Bokhari you are responsible for this. By the way how heavy was the briefcase u got from Mr.President ???