Prime Minister Imran Khan to re-induct Babar Awan in cabinet

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Prime Minister Imran Khan has decided to re-induct Dr Babar Awan in his cabinet as advisor. According to sources, the government will reappoint Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) leader and former federal minister Awan as Advisor to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs. Sources further said federal minister parliamentary affairs Azam Swati will be given some other portfolio. The constitution allows five advisors in the federal cabinet. Currently Dr Hafeez Sheikh, Dr Ishrat Hussain, Malik Ameen Aslam, Abdul Razzak Dawood, and Arbab Shahzad are continuing as advisors with the PTI government. The government will have to remove at least one advisor to accommodate Babar Awan, sources maintained. Awan has already served as the advisor on parliamentary affairs in the current government, but had to resign from the position after being named in the Nandipur corruption cases reference. On June 25, an accountability court in Islamabad had acquitted PTI leader Babar Awan and retired Justice Riaz Kiani in the Nandipur power plant corruption reference. The court turned down acquittal appeals filed by former premier Raja Pervez Ashraf, Dr Riaz Mehmood and others. Awan and the others were indicted in the case, that was filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) last year, by the accountability court in March. The charges against them were "causing delay in according approval to the project", which caused losses worth billions of rupees to the national exchequer.