Pakistani court adjourns PM’s corruption case till Jan 29

Pakistan Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned till January 29 when the hearing of a corruption case against the incumbent Prime Minister, Raja Pervez Asharf, will take place.

The three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary during hearing of the rental power projects (RPP) implementation case, observed that a separate Supreme Court bench would be constituted to hear the case pertaining to the death of Kamran Faisal, an officer of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) who was investigating the RPP scam.

Faisal was found hanging from the ceiling of his hostel room on Friday. Though an autopsy report ruled his death a suicide, the deceased’s family and colleagues disputed the findings and called for a judicial probe.

Earlier the Supreme Court had ordered the country’s anti-corruption body to arrest the Prime Minister and 15 other people who were accused of taking kickbacks in purchasing Rental Power Projects (RPPs) when Ashraf was the minister for water and power in the present government.

Chief Justice Iftikhar during the hearing observed the court could not overlook Faisal’s death.

The chief justice, moreover, remarked that Faisal’s demise was an extremely sad incident, adding that after his death no one could be considered safe in the country.

Chief Justice Iftikhar added that Faisal was found dead on January 18 and expressed his dismay saying even a First Information Report (FIR) had not been registered over it.

NAB Prosecutor General K K Agha said the bureau was being accused over the investigator’s death.

Responding to which, the chief justice said those responsible for Faisal’s death must be arrested.

The chief justice added that another apex court bench would be constituted to hear the case pertaining to the investigator’s death.

Also during the hearing, NAB’s chairman (retired) Admiral Fasih Bokhari retracted his statement over suspending its probe into the RPP scam until an inquiry into Faisal’s death was concluded.

Bokhari added that the NAB’s investigations into the scam would continue.

Moreover, Agha said everyone wanted to know the truth behind Faisal’s death, adding that a transparent inquiry should be held into the matter.

The hearing was later adjourned to Jan 29.

The apex court in its earlier verdict in March last year had observed that the rules and regulations were violated in these projects due to which the national exchequer witnessed losses of billions.

The Supreme Court has declared the Rental Power Projects (RPPs) as illegal and also ordered them to be shut down.