Court defers its verdict on Awan’s acquittal plea in Nandipur reference
- By Shah Khalid -
- Feb 25, 2019
ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Monday once again deferred the announcement of its reserved verdict on acquittal plea filed by former law minister Dr Babar Awan in Nandipur Power Project reference until March 8.
Accountability court judge Arshad Malik was set to announce the verdict into the case today, but deferred it once again on the plea of Babar Awan.
“The verdict now will be announced on March 8 after hearing the arguments in the case,” the court said.
During last hearing of the case, on February 20, the judge said it was an established truth that the Nandipur project was delayed, only this had to be established whether this delay was caused because of the former law minister or not.
Read More: Court to hear Babar Awan’s acquittal plea in Nandipur reference today
Judge Arshad Malik also asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as to what will happen to rest of the suspects if Babar Awan was acquitted.
The Nandipur reference
The National Accountability Bureau in the reference, contended that the project had faced a delay of two years, one month and 15 days, resulting in a loss of Rs 27.3 billion to the national exchequer.
The power plant project, located in Gujranwala district of Punjab, could not be completed and operated on time because the accused failed to issue legal opinions.