ISLAMABAD: The Accountability Court, on Thursday, adjourned the hearing of the Sindh Nooriabad Power Companies (SNPC-I and SNPC-II) reference against Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and others due to an appeal pending before the Supreme Court filed against the ruling of the apex court that struck down some amendments made to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999.

Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed Rana, while hearing the case, remarked that the court would wait till the final order of the SC on the appeal.

Shah appeared before the court along with his counsel Arshad Tabraz and the court marked his attendance and later allowed him to go.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor, Usman Masood, also attended the hearing of the case.

The defence counsel while arguing before the court said that the proceedings of the case cannot proceed further following the order of the Supreme Court judgment, which struck down the amendments to the country’s anti-graft law. The case was transferred to another court but after an apex court’s order, it was sent back to the NAB.

He told the court that all the accused were coming from Karachi for a hearing. He requested to grant a long date for the next hearing.

The judge remarked that the court would wait for the final decision of the Supreme Court and adjourned the hearing of the case till June 26.

The NAB, in 2020, filed a corruption reference against Murad Ali Shah and 16 other accused, Omni group’s Anwar Majeed, Khursheed Anwar Jamali, and others for corruption and money laundering through SNPC-I and SNPC-II by establishing two power plants at Nooriabad, Sindh.

Talking to reporters, Shah said that the total production of wheat in Sindh province is over four million tons.

The caretaker government had imported wheat which has created wheat price issues, he said, adding that his government is making efforts to ensure that farmers sell wheat at better rates.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024