Court indicts ex-PM Ashraf in RPP case

The case has been adjourned till February 4.

Talking to reporters after the hearing, former premier Ashraf denied the allegations against him and said he had performed his duties as the federal minister for water and power with ‘complete honesty’. PHOTO: AFP

ISLAMABAD:
An accountability court on Friday indicted former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and seven others over their suspected involvement in the multi-billion rupee rental power project (RPP) case.

The former premier and the other accused were charged on three counts in the Naudero-II RPP case, including the violation of Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and the concealment of facts pertaining to the project from the Economic Coordination Committee. The eight accused, who appeared before the court in person, denied the charges.

The accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir, meanwhile, directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to produce the complete record of the case in the next hearing. The case has been adjourned till February 4.

Talking to reporters after the hearing, former premier Ashraf denied the allegations against him and said he had performed his duties as the federal minister for water and power with ‘complete honesty’. He lamented being made the subject of a media trial in connection to the case.

Ashraf’s counsel Farooq H Naek also told reporters that his client neither caused any loss to the national exchequer nor indulged in any corruption. “He will be acquitted honourably soon,” he said.


The bureau declared Ashraf a suspect in the Naudero-II RPP case on November 6, 2013 and filed a reference against him in the accountability court.

Before that, NAB had filed preliminary references against nine others in the case, accusing them of misusing authority and flouting rules and regulations while awarding the Naudero-II RPP contract, and shifting equipment from one project to another. Two of them succeeded in obtaining a stay order against their inclusion in the NAB reference.

The Supreme Court, in December last year, also ordered the initiation of criminal proceedings against Ashraf – and other legislators – over the alleged distribution of billions of rupees in development funds ten days after completing his tenure as prime minister. The court also authorised investigations against those who made the feasibility reports for the funds or violated PPRA rules while distributing them.

The three-member bench had made these observations in its 38-page judgment in a suo motu case, which was initiated over media reports claiming that the former prime minister had doled out billions of rupees.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2014. 
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