Raja Pervez appears before court in GEPCO reference

LAHORE: Former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Monday appeared before an accountability court for hearing into Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO) appointments reference, filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader was indicted in the case by a NAB court in September, 2017.

Ashraf is accused of recruiting as many as 437 people without taking merit into consideration, the reference states.

It is pertinent to mention here that, Mr. Ashraf is also facing NAB reference related to delay in the completion of Nandipur Power Project that incurred the losses to the tune of Rs 27 billion to the national exchequer. Raja Pervez Ashraf and Babar Awan are among the seven accused who have been nominated in the case.

In the last hearing of Nandipur case, the former prime minister was granted permanent exemption from appearing in the case after submitting Rs 0.2 million of surety bond.

A total of 35 witnesses will testify, including three NAB investigation officers, in the Nandipur Power project reference.

Mr. Ashraf had also been indicted by another accountability court in Islamabad in the rental power case.

He is accused of misusing his authority during his tenure as minister to get approval from the Economic Coordination Committee for an increase in the down-payment to the rental power companies from seven per cent to 14 per cent, amounting to about Rs 22 billion.