Nandipur case: Court to announce verdict in Babar Awan's acquittal plea tomorrow
Meanwhile, the court has fixed June 25 as the date for announcing its judgment.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – An accountability court in Islamabad on Tuesday (tomorrow) will announce its verdict in an acquittal plea filed by former law minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Babar Awan in the Nandipur Power Project case.
Five accused persons, including Babar Awan, former premier Raja Pervez Ashraf, ex-consultant Shumaila Mehmood, former law secretary Riaz Kiyani, and former joint secretary Dr Riaz Mehmood have filed their acquittal pleas in the reference.
Meanwhile, the court has fixed June 25 as the date for announcing its judgment.
On Feb 11, the court reserved its decision on the acquittal plea after Awan and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor concluded their arguments.
The case
The Nandipur power project was approved by the Economic Coordination Committee on Dec 27, 2007, at a cost of $329 million.
After the approval, the contract was signed on Jan 28, 2008, between the Northern Power Generation Company Limited and the Dong Fang Electric Corporation, China. Two consortiums — Coface for 68.967m euros and Sinosure for $150.151m - were set up for financing the project.
The water and power ministry sought legal opinion on the project from the law ministry in accordance with the schedule of the agreement in July 2009, but the accused repeatedly refused to do so.
The water and power ministry also failed to take any concrete steps to resolve the issue and the matter remained pending.
According to NAB, the legal opinion was issued in November 2011 after Mr Awan was replaced as the law minister.
