An accountability court, on Monday, once again reserved its verdict on the acquittal plea by former law minister, Dr Babar Awan, in the Nandipur Power Project reference till March 8.
During the hearing held on February 20, Accountability Court Judge Arshad Malik had reasoned that while the delay in he Nandipur project had been established, the court was yet to deliberate on whether Dr Awan had contributed to this delay. He had then reserved his verdict and announced to conclude the case on February 25. He had also asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) regarding the status of other suspects in the case if Dr Awan was acquitted.
However, he has once again delayed the verdict on the request of the appellant and announced to give his decision on March 8 after hearing additional arguments.
The Nandipur reference filed by NAB contended that the power plant project in Gujranwala had suffered by a delay of two years, one month and 15 days, which had cost Rs 27.3 billion to the national exchequer. It was alleged that the accused was responsible for this delay because he had then failed to issue legal opinions in due time.
Published in Daily Times, February 26th 2019.
