ISLAMABAD: Former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal has sought acquittal in the Narowal Sports Complex (NSC) reference on the basis of the judgement that exonerated Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan in Nandipur corruption case.
Counsel for Mr Iqbal, Zulfiqar Abbasi Naqvi, on Wednesday argued before the accountability court that Islamabad High Court (IHC) had recently issued a detailed judgement in Nandipur Power Project reference.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on March 18, 2018 had filed the reference against Babar Awan, former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, ex-law secretaries retired Justice Riaz Kiani, Masood Chishti and others for delaying the project which led to its price escalation.
National
January 15, 2021
ISLAMABAD: Misuse of authority, no matter how grave and gross, does not constitute an offence under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) unless it involves mens rea [criminal intent] and conscious knowledge or a guilty mind, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ruled.
Mere ‘misuse of authority’, no matter how grave or gross in nature, would not be sufficient to constitute an offence under section 9(a)(vi) [of the NAO] because the unambiguous language used by the legislature makes the existence of the other ingredients a precondition, the judgment handed in the Nandipur Power Project case stated while upholding the acquittal of Adviser on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan and former law secretary Justice (retd) Riaz Kayani by an accountability court.
Top Story
January 13, 2021
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday dismissed the appeals of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against acquittal of Adviser to the Prime Minister Babar Awan in the Nandipur Power Project case and upheld a decision of a trial court.
A division bench of the IHC also overturned the trial court’s decision to reject an acquittal plea of former secretary Masood Chishti.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Babar Sattar conducted a hearing on NAB’s appeals against the acquittal of Adviser to the Prime Minister Babar Awan and former secretary Riaz Kiyani in the Nandipur reference. The verdict was reserved on October 5, after listening arguments from both sides. Accountability Court Judge Arshad Malik had acquitted Awan and Kiayni on June 25 last year, and dismissed the acquittal plea of Masood Chishti in Nandipur case. NAB had challenged the acquittal of the accused before the IHC.
Govt offers Rs450b to IPPS to clear circular debt
Proposes to make payment to 47 companies over a period of one year
ISLAMABAD:
The federal government has offered a package to the independent power producers (IPPs) in a bid to clear Rs450 billion circular debt, which has plagued the entire energy chain.
The circular debt in the power sector stood at Rs2.3 trillion by end June 2020 against Rs1.6 trillion during the same period in 2019. The circular debt in the oil and gas sector stands at Rs1.6 trillion.
The IPPs are also facing circular debt which overdue receivables had increased to around Rs700 billion.