An accountability court, on Wednesday, once again delayed its verdict on an acquittal petition filed by former law minister Dr Babar Awan in Nandipur Power Project case till February 25.
Accountability court judge, Arshad Malik, remarked that he wished to review the relevant records before announcing his verdict. While the delay in the Nandipur project was already established, the court still needed to decide whether Dr Awan had caused this delay, he added.
Upon an inquiry by the judge, the NAB prosecutor said that that other accused would also want the same treatment if the former law minister was acquitted.
Earlier, the court had reserved its verdict case on Monday.
Dr Awan cries of selective accountability
During the hearing, Dr Awan asserted that the two summaries were not sent to the law ministry during his tenure as the federal minister for law and justice in the cabinet of former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani.
“The new law minister did not even grant approval after I left. Approvals are the law secretary’s responsibility and not the minister’s,” he maintained
Dr Awan admitted that the Nandipur project was not completed but also believed that he was being selectively targetted by a corruption reference.
The NAB prosecutor later replied that the Rehmat Hussain Jafri commission’s report could be consulted in this regard
“The law minister did issue one form that was required. The entire blame is on the incompetency level of the law ministry during Dr Awan’s tenure,” he added
To which, the judge remarked that this was such a small issue.
The counsel of the former prime minister, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said, “Before a charge sheet is filed, all the convicts are supposed to provide all the relevant documents.”
Hie further added that he had wanted to present some reports to the court before it passed its verdict.
Published in Daily Times, February 21st 2019.
