Appearance exemption: Accountability court reserves judgment on Ashraf’s plea

Former prime minister along with other suspects appeared in the RPP case

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Wednesday reserved judgment on a former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf’s plea seeking permanent exemption from appearing in the court in the Rental Power Project (RPP) case. The court will announce the verdict on October 9.

On September 12, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed a fresh reference against Ashraf and 11 others in the RPP case.

Ashraf, who has filed an application requesting the court to exempt him from personal appearance in the case, appeared in the court along with other suspects on Wednesday.

Ashraf’s counsel Amjad Iqbal Qureshi requested the court to exempt his client from personal appearance due to security reasons.

The former prime minister’s counsel informed the court that it was difficult for his client to appear in court at every hearing as his client has received threats.

NAB has accused Ashraf and 11 others including former water and power secretary Shahid Rafi, former secretary Ismail Qureshi, former Pepco MDs Tahir Basharat and Munawar Basir of misusing power, violation of rules and awarding illegal contracts in establishing the power project. Naudero, Sahiwal, Peeran Ghaib and Karkey rental power cases against the Pakistan Peoples Party leader are also pending in the same court.

According to the NAB, a 150 megawatt power plant was installed in Samundri that consumed furnace oil worth Rs225 million. The former PM, who was then minister of water and power, issued contract in violation of rules.

The Samundri project machinery, which was manufactured by China in 1958, failed its first test conducted in June 2013 by a Dutch engineer because of its old age. The engineer gave another chance to Techno E-Power, the company which had installed the plant to replace the old equipment. The plant failed another test in July 2013.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2015.