ISLAMABAD: An Accountability Court of Islamabad on Tuesday acquitted Sindh Chief Mi­­nister Syed Murad Ali Shah and others in No­­oriabad Rental Power Project corruption case.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed an application seeking withdrawal of the reference in the light of amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) that was upheld by the Supreme Court recently.

The bureau said that in the light of the amendments to NAO, the case against the CM and others could not be proceeded.

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Accountability Court judge Nasir Javed Rana accepted the application and acquitted all the accused in the case.

The reference is an offshoot of the fake accou­nts case where the ex-chief minister was accused of using his influence and released funds for the Nooriabad Power Plant in violation of rules.

The Rs13 billion Nooriabad power project was launched in 2014 under a public-private partnership in which the Sindh government holds 49 per cent of shares and a private company owns 51pc shares.

It is also alleged that the former chief minister concealed material facts from the Sindh cabinet and allegedly misled it to benefit the Omni Group of companies, owned by Anwar Majeed, a close aide of President Asif Ali Zardari.

Mr Shah also allegedly managed to release Rs3bn loan to the companies.

According to the reference, the Nooriabad Power Plant project was conceived to allegedly whiten Omni Group’s ‘black money’.

At the time, Mr Shah was the adviser to the then-provincial chief minister for finance and energy.

Besides Mr Shah and Mr Majeed, 16 others were also named as accused in the reference.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2024