Rental power reference: AC rejects Raja Pervaiz, 10 others’ acquittal plea

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court, Islamabad on Wednesday dismissed plea of former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and ten other accused seeking acquittal in the Naudero-II Power Plant case.

Judge Muhammad Bashir announced this verdict on the applications filed under NAB Amendment Ordinance, 2019. NAB had filed a reference pertaining to Naudero-II Power Plant case in 2013, according to which, former prime minister Pervaiz Ashraf and other accused allegedly misused their powers, inflicting a loss of Rs7.5 million on the national exchequer.

On June 30, the accountability court had acquitted the former prime minister, former finance minister Shaukat Tareen and other accused in the Piraghaib Rental Power reference. Other accused whose acquittal pleas were approved included Shaukat Tareen, Ismail Qureshi, Shahid Rafi, Tahir Basharat Cheema, Muhammad Saleem Arif, Chaudhry Abdul Qadeer, and Iqbal Ali Shah. Raja Pervaiz Ashraf is accused of misusing his powers in his capacity as water and power minister to gain financial benefits in the project.