Court issues bailable arrest warrants for former premier Raja Pervaiz Ashraf

Published August 30, 2019
An accountability court in Lahore on Friday issued bailable arrest warrants for former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. — DawnNewsTV
An accountability court in Lahore on Friday issued bailable arrest warrants for former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. — DawnNewsTV

An accountability court in Lahore on Friday issued bailable arrest warrants for former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) case against him for making illegal appointments in the Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco) during his stint as federal minister for water and power.

Duty judge Jawadul Hassan rejected an application from Ashraf's lawyer, Advocate Iftikhar Shahid, for a court exemption for his client and instead issued his arrest warrants. NAB prosecutor Waris Ali Janjua appeared on behalf of the accountability watchdog.

The former premier's lawyer said Ashraf could not appear before the court as he was unwell.

Rejecting the request for his exemption, the judge said that Ashraf's case had entered its final stages and he should have appeared before court today.

NAB has said that the former prime minister misused his powers and appointed 437 people in Gepco from his electoral constituency without any consideration for merit. Former secretary water and power Shahid Rafi, former directors of Gepco’s boards of governors including Saleem Arif, Malik Muhammad Razi Abbas and Wazir Ali were also involved in the same reference, which was filed in 2016.

After issuing the arrest warrants, the court adjourned proceedings till September 18.

Opinion

Editorial

Trump 2.0
Updated 07 Nov, 2024

Trump 2.0

It remains to be seen how his promises to bring ‘peace’ to Middle East reconcile with his blatantly pro-Israel bias.
Fait accompli
07 Nov, 2024

Fait accompli

A SLEW of secretively conceived and hastily enacted legislation has achieved its intended result: the powers of the...
IPP contracts
07 Nov, 2024

IPP contracts

THE government expects the ongoing ‘negotiations’ with power producers aimed at revising the terms of sovereign...
Rushed legislation
Updated 06 Nov, 2024

Rushed legislation

For all its stress on "supremacy of parliament", the ruling coalition has wasted no opportunity to reiterate where its allegiances truly lie.
Jail reform policy
06 Nov, 2024

Jail reform policy

THE state is making a fresh attempt to improve conditions in Pakistan’s penitentiaries by developing a national...
BISP overhaul
06 Nov, 2024

BISP overhaul

IT has emerged that the spouses of over 28,500 Sindh government employees have been illicitly benefiting from BISP....