RPP implementation: SC to resume hearing today

ISLAMABAD: A three member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry will resume hearing the Rs22 billion rental power projects (RPP) scam today (Wednesday), Geo News reported.

Investigating Officer Asghar Khan had prepared a 30 page report of the case in which incumbent Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf (then Minister for Water and Power) was held responsible for corruption in rental power plants. The three charges levelled against him are :

Firstly, he failed in preventing corruption in the rental power contract as federal minister for water and power.

Secondly, according to the report, he pressurised the Economic Coordination Committee for wrong decision.

Thirdly, the report also alleged that the then federal minister for water and power deliberately tried to benefit the contractors through the agreement.

Based on these findings, the apex court issued an order to arrest Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and 15 others accused in the case on January 15.

An assistant director of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Kamran Faisal, who was investigating the RPPs scam, was found hanging from ceiling fan in his official residence at Federal Lodges on Jan 18 in mysterious circumstances. The SC is also hearing the case of his mysterious death with reference to the case.