ISLAMABAD: An accountability court (AC) on Wednesday 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 filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The lawyers of other accused in the reference were asked to present their arguments on acquittal of their clients named in the reference today, but the process could not be completed.
Later, the hearing of the case was adjourned till May 31.
“I will announce my verdict on the Awan’s acquittal plea on next hearing [May 31]”, the AC Judge Arshad Malik remarked.
It may be recalled that the NAB court earlier, had reserved the verdict in the case thrice but deferred the announcement of its reserved verdict on acquittal plea filed by former law minister Dr Babar Awan.
It may be noted that, the court had reserved its ruling in the case on April 26.
The National Accountability Bureau in the reference, contended that the Nandipur Power Project 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, Babar Awan failed to issue legal opinions.
The Nandipur Power Project was approved by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) in December 2007 at a cost of 329 million dollars.
