An accountability court Tuesday acquitted Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Babar Awan but turned down acquittal appeal filed by former prime minister and senior Pakistan People’s Party leader Raja Pervez Ashraf in a corruption case.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had named a totalof seven accused, five of whom had earlier filed bail pleas, in the casepertaining to delay in execution of the Nandipur Power Plant Project whichcaused a loss of Rs 27 billion to the national exchequer, the Express Tribunereported.
All of the accused had pleaded “not guilty”.
Awan, 61, filed an appeal for acquittal from the case inApril, one month after withdrawing a similar appeal from the same court.
Awan, who served as Minister of Law and Justice under thenprime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, joined Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaadin 2017, ending his two decade long association with the PPP.
Ashraf, 68, a high-ranking PPP leader, became prime ministerin June 2012 after premier Gillani was disqualified over contempt of courtcharges. The Nandipur project was approved by theEconomic Coordination Committee on December 27, 2007, at a cost of USD 329million.