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Court rejects acquittal plea of Raja Pervaiz in Naudero II power plant case

Court rejects acquittal plea of Raja Pervaiz in Naudero II power plant case
July 8, 2020
ISLAMABAD (92 News) – An accountability court on Wednesday rejected applications of former prime minister Raja Pervez 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. In the NAB reference Pervez Ashraf was accused of allegedly misused powers. The NAB had filed a reference pertaining to Naudero II power plant case in 2013, according to which, former premier Pervez Ashraf and other accused allegedly misused their powers, inflicting a loss of Rs7.5 million on the national exchequer. Earlier, the court acquitted Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, former finance minister Shaukat Tareen and other accused in the Piraghaib Rental Power reference.Judge Muhammad Bashir announced his verdict on applications of the former premier and others seeking acquittal in the case. Other accused whose acquittal pleas were approved included Shaukat Tareen, Ismail Qureshi, Shahid Rafi, Tahir Basharat Cheema, Muhammad Saleem Arif, Chaudhry Abdul Qadreer, and Iqbal Ali Shah. Earlier on June 25, an accountability court in Islamabad acquitted former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in the Rental Power Plant reference. Judge Mohammad Bashir, while announcing the verdict, said that NAB could not prove any corruption charges against Ashraf. Other people named in the case, including Shaukat Tareen, former Pesco MD Basharat Cheema and Shahid Rafique have been acquitted as well. Ashraf was charged by NAB on three counts in the Rs22 billion scam. The ex-premier has maintained throughout that he did not cause any loss to the national exchequer and had not indulged in any corruption. A reference against Ashraf was filed in December 2019 after Rana Amjad, the manager of the Sahiwal-Multan project, turned approver in the case.