Pakistan court charges Pervez Ashraf in multi-billion scam

January 17, 2014 02:32 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 11:45 pm IST - Islamabad

Pakistan's Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, talks with Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, not seen, prior to their meeting at Cameron's official residence at 10 Downing Street in central London, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, Pool)

Pakistan's Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, talks with Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, not seen, prior to their meeting at Cameron's official residence at 10 Downing Street in central London, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, Pool)

Pakistan’s former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf was on Friday charged along with six others in the Rs. 22 billion rental power scam by a court in Islamabad.

All the accused, including the former Federal Minister for water and power, refused to plead guilty to the charges before the Accountability Court.

The bench conducting the trial sought all relevant evidence from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the next hearing of the case which was adjourned until February 4.

Later, Mr. Ashraf said his character assassination by the media was highly regrettable, adding his hands were clean and he performed his duty with utmost honesty.

His lawyer Farooq H. Naek said Mr. Ashraf has been charged on three counts, “which has proved that he didn’t cause any loss to the exchequer and he didn’t indulge in any corruption”.

He said that the charges framed against him include violation of PEPRA rules and other allegations.

Mr. Naek expressed confidence that Mr. Ashraf would soon be acquitted honourably.

Mr. Ashraf, who served as premier between June 22, 2012 and March 25, 2013, is accused of receiving kickbacks and commissions from nine rental power project firms for awarding contracts for setting up their projects in 2008 to overcome electricity crisis in the country.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has been investigating 12 RPP cases in which nine firms reportedly received more than Rs. 22 billion as mobilisation advance from the government to commission the projects, but most of them were accused of failing to set up plants.

The bureau had already recovered Rs. 13 billion in the case.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.