SC disposes of Nandipur project case

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday disposed of a petition filed against the delay in construction of Nandipur power project after it was informed that a reference has been filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the matter. A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar disposed of the petition filed by PML-N leader and former minister of water and power Khwaja Asif against delay in commissioning of Nandipur power project.

Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar said that as the anti-graft body had filed a reference and as such, court proceedings should not affect NAB proceedings. Earlier, an accountability court decided to indict former premier Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Babar Awan in the Nandipur power project corruption reference on October 24.

On August 11, the NAB held the previous government of PPP responsible for delaying the Nandipur project, causing a losses of Rs27.3 billion to the national exchequer in 2009. Imranul Haq, NAB Special Prosecutor, had submitted an interim report in the SC. The report stated that due to non-issuance of legal opinion of the Ministry of Law and Justice led by Babar Awan, the Nandipur power project faced the losses amounted to Rs27.3 billion.