IHC upholds acquittal of ex-PM Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in rental power corruption references.
The Islamabad High Court has turned down appeals filed by the National Accountability Bureau seeking to overturn the acquittal of former Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in the Piran Ghaib and Sahiwal rental power projects corruption cases.
A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Faraz Dogar and Justice Ayaz Shaukat heard the appeals and ruled against NAB’s request to reopen the case against the former premier and several co-accused.
The accountability watchdog had approached the high court after an accountability court in Islamabad discharged all suspects in the Piran Ghaib and Sahiwal references back in 2020. NAB maintained at the time that the exoneration warranted a legal challenge and filed appeals shortly after the trial court’s decision.
With the high court now dismissing those appeals, the 2020 acquittal stands, closing another chapter in the long-running rental power corruption saga that has involved several senior political figures over the years.
The rental power cases stem from allegations of irregularities in power generation contracts awarded under previous governments, cases that have moved through Pakistan’s accountability courts for over a decade without a conviction against the former prime minister.