An accountability court in Islamabad, on Tuesday, summoned Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) leader, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader, Syed Naveed Qamar, as witnesses in Nandipur Power Project reference.
Accountability Judge Arshad Malik directed both former federal ministers to appear before the court in the next hearing, scheduled for March 21.
As the hearing began, former law minister Babar Awan and a witness, Muhammad Naeem, appeared in the court. Naeem worked as an official of the Ministry of Power.
The NAB prosecutor requested the court to grant him some time as he needed to submit the relevant record in the case before recording the testimony of the first witness.
The accused, Awan, objected to the request and remarked that the prosecutor had earlier sought three days for the same purpose but the court had granted him six days instead.
PTI leader and the accountability prosecutor exchanged heated words over the course of the hearing.
In the previous hearing, the court had indicted Awan who had pleaded not guilty; opting to contest the charges. The judge had then directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to present witnesses to record their testimonies.
The former prime minister, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf; former law secretary, Riaz Kiyani; Masood Chishti; ex-consultant, Shumaila Mahmood; former joint secretary, Riaz Mahmood, and ex-secretary, Shahid Rafique, have also been named as accused in the case.
NAB officials claimed that delays in the completion of Nandipur Power Project, due to the actions of the accused, caused a loss worth Rs 27 billion to the national kitty.
Published in Daily Times, March 20th 2019.
