An accountability court in Islamabad will announce the verdict on PPP leader and former PM Raja Pervaiz Ashraf’s acquittal plea in the Ratodero reference on July 8. He has been accused of misusing his authority.
Eight people have filed for acquittals in the case, including former water and power secretary Shahid Rafiq and former Pakistan Electric Power Company MD Tahir Basharat Cheema.
Ashraf has already been acquitted in the Pira Ghaib and Sahiwal rental power cases.
The Pira Ghaib reference was filed in 2014 over a 192 MW rental power plant in Multan. Ashraf was accused of corruption and misusing his authority as former power minister.
The Sahiwal case was filed in December 2019 after Rana Amjad, the manager of the Sahiwal-Multan project, turned approver in the case.
References were filed against the PPP leader after NAB accused him of misusing his 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.
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.
