Raja Pervaiz Ashraf acquitted in Rental Power Plant reference

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – An accountability court in Islamabad acquitted former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in the Rental Power Plant reference on Thursday. 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. Ashraf was accused of misusing authority during his tenure as the minister for water and power to obtain approval from the Economic Coordination Committee and the federal cabinet for an increase in the down payment to rental power companies from 7% to 14%, amounting to about Rs22 billion. He, however, denied the charge. On February 3, a Lahore accountability court acquitted the PPP leader in the Gujranwala Electric Power Company illegal appointment case. The reference had accused him of recruiting 437 people illegally while serving as the minister for water and power.