Acquittal pleas in RPP reference: Accused not entitled to relief under NAB Ordinance 2019: court

The Accountability Court hearing Rental Power Plant (RPP) cases, on Wednesday rejected the acquittal pleas of former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and others, in the Nandipur Power Project (NPP) reference.
The Accountability Court judge, Muhammad Azam Khan, hearing the case turned down the acquittal applications of Ashraf, Muhammad Masood Chishti, former secretary Law, Riaz Kiyani, former secretary Law, Shumaila Mahmood, former research consultant at the Ministry of Law and Justice, and decided to continue trial against them in the NPP case.
The former premier, Ashraf, and others filed acquittal applications in the wake of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Amendment Ordinance, 2019. The court observed that the accused Ashraf and others could not be acquitted under the NAB Amendment Ordinance 2019, and ordered to continue trial against them.
The NAB had alleged that the nominated accused had caused delay in the execution of the NPP, which led to the loss of Rs 27 billion to the national exchequer. The NPP was approved by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on December 27, 2007, at a cost of $329 million.
The contract was signed on January 28, 2008, between the Northern Power Generation Company Limited (NPGCL) and Dong Fang Electric Corporation of China and two consortiums, COFACE for 68.967 million Euros and SINOSURE for $150.151 million were established for financing the project. The bureau is investigating all 12 RPPs and has filed references in cases including Turkish ship-mounted power plant (Karkey), Piranghaib power plant, Multan, Sahiwal power plant, Guddu power plant in Sindh, Naudero-I power plant in Sindh, Naudero-II power plant in Sindh, Reshma Power Generation in Raiwind, Young Gen Power Ltd, Bhikki, Gulf Rental Power (Pvt) Ltd, and 150MW Sharaqpur RPP.