ISLAMABAD: Accountability Court (AC) of Islamabad has acquitted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Baber Awan in the Nandipur Power Project reference while the court rejected the acquittal plea of former premier Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.
The AC judge Muhammad Arshad Malik announcing the reserved judgment of the Nandipur Power Project reference approved the acquittal petition of Baber Awan while it rejected petitions of ex-premier Pervez Ashraf, Shumaila Mahmood, and Riyaz Mahmood.
It is pertinent to mention here that the country national exchequer had incurred loss of Rs 27 billion due to two years delay in the completion of the project by the hands of ministers in the PPP government while as per the auditor general report irregularities of about Rs 80 billion were found out of which Rs 17 billion loss incurred to national exchequer just due to delay by the ministry of law.
As per the report, the national exchequer incurred a heavy loss of Rs 45. 3 billion just as finalizing the contracts of operations of the plant and its maintenance delayed.
The national exchequer also incurred a loss of Rs 38. 18 billion as the plant was not transferred from furnace oil to gas.
Besides that the contractors were also awarded irregular payments over their claims which incurred the national exchequer loss of Rs 11. 48 billion while awarding the contract against the procurement principles also incurred the loss of Rs 46 billion to the national exchequer.
It is pertinent to mention here the project was started back in October 2008 and it had to be completed until April 16, 2011, but it could not be completed.
Ex-premier Raja Pervez Ashraf, former law minister Baber Awan, former secretary law and others have been indicted in the case.
The PTI government had made Baber Awan as Prime Minister Adviser on Parliamentary Affairs but he resigned from the post after the indictment in the case.
