AC summons Khawaja Asif, Naveed Qamar in Nandipur case

ISLAMABAD: 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 in Nandipur Power Project reference, ARY News reported.

Accountability Judge Arshad Malik summoned both the former federal ministers to testify in the case on the next hearing scheduled for March 21.

As the hearing began, former law minister Babar Awan and a witness, Muhammad Naeem, an official of the Ministry of Power, appeared in the court.

The NAB prosecutor requested the court to grant some time to submit the relevant record before recording the testimony of the official.

Babar Awan objected to the persecutor’s request, saying it had earlier sought three days’ time for the purpose but the court had given it six days.

An exchange of heated words was also witnessed between Babar Awan and the prosecutor over the course of the hearing.

In the previous hearing, the court had indicted the accused who pleaded not guilty and opted to contest charges. The judge then directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to present witnesses to record their testimonies.

Read Also: Naveed Qamar, Khawaja Asif to testify as NAB witnesses in Nandipur project reference

NAB has named former PM Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Babar Awan, former law secretary Riaz Kiyani, Masood Chishti, ex-consultant Shumaila Mahmood, former joint secretary Riaz Mahmood and ex-secretary Shahid Rafique as accused persons in the case.

According to NAB officials, delays in the completion of Nandipur Power Project caused the national exchequer a loss of Rs27 billion.