Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah acquitted of Nooriabad Power Project reference – Pakistan

Accountability Court acquitted Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah from the Nooriabad Power Project reference.

Islamabad Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed heard the Nooriabad Power Project reference against the Sindh Chief Minister and others, where the lawyer of the accused, Barrister Qasim Nawaz Abbasi, appeared in the court.

The Accountability Court accepted the request of Chairman NAB to withdraw the reference and acquitted the Sindh Chief Minister in the reference.

The accountability court also acquitted all the other accused named in the Nooriabad Power Project reference.

It should be noted that in this case, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah is accused of misusing powers and awarding contracts for projects without feasibility studies, which allegedly caused a loss of 8 billion rupees to the public exchequer.

The reference is part of the fake accounts case in which the Sindh Chief Minister was accused of using his influence and releasing funds for the Nooriabad Power Plant in violation of rules.

The Nooriabad Power Plant project was launched in 2014 under a public-private partnership at a cost of Rs 13 billion in which the Sindh government holds 49 percent shares and a private company holds the remaining 51 percent shares.

It has also been alleged that the Sindh Chief Minister allegedly hid facts from the Sindh Cabinet and misled him to benefit Omni Group of Companies owned by Anwar Majeed, a close friend of former President Asif Zardari.

It is alleged that he also issued loans of 3 billion rupees to the companies.

According to the reference, the Nooriabad Power Plant project was allegedly made to launder the ‘black money’ of the Omni Group.

At that time, Murad Ali Shah was the adviser on finance and energy to the then chief minister of the province.

Apart from Murad Ali Shah and Anwar Majeed, 16 other persons are also named in the reference.

In July, Syed Murad Ali Shah, while speaking about the case against him, said that the Nooriabad Power Plant has been providing 100 MW of cheap electricity to Karachi since it became functional.