Nooriabad Power Plant reference: Court summons Sindh CM on Oct 7 for indictment

ISLAMABAD: An Accountability Court here on Tuesday once again summoned 17 accused, including Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, on October 7 for indictment in the Nooriabad Power Plant corruption reference.

Accountability Court-III Judge Syed Asghar Ali, while hearing the reference, instructed all the accused to ensure their attendance on the next date of hearing.The court had to indict the accused on Tuesday but it deferred the matter once again due to the incomplete attendance of the accused. The NAB had named Syed Murad Ali Shah, Khawaja Abdul Ghani Majeed, Khursheed Anwar Jamali and others in the above case.

The Nooriabad power plant reference alleged that Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah issued funds for power projects in Sindh in violation of rules and that billions of rupees were embezzled in the Nooriabad Power Company and the Sindh Transmission and Dispatch Company projects.

The Nooriabad Power Project was originally envisaged by the Sindh government in 2012 but it could not materialise then due to red-tapism and delays in regulatory approvals.The project was finally launched in August 2014 under a public-private partnership at a cost of Rs13 billion.