The National Accountability Bureau on Tuesday filed a corruption reference against former minister for law and justice Babar Awan regarding a delay in Nandipur Project in Accountability Courts Islamabad

Awan serves as the adviser to the prime minister on parliamentary affairs.

The former federal minister for water and power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, along with other officers of the ministry, also faces a corruption reference for the delay in Nandipur Project. 

The corruption references were filed after a commission, constituted at the behest of the Supreme Court, held officers of the Ministry of Law and  Justice responsible for the delay.

The Nandipur Power Project was approved by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) in December 2007 at a cost of 329 million dollars. After approval, the contract was signed in January 2008, between Northern Power Generation Company Limited (NPGCL) and Dong Fang Electric Corporation (DEC), China and two consortiums — COFACE for 68.967 million euros and SINOSURE for 150.151 million dollars.

In 2008, the Ministry of Water and Power approached the Ministry of Law to issue a legal opinion but accused in connivance with each other and with malafide intentions, the latter repeatedly refused to issue on flimsy grounds.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Water and Power also failed to take any concrete measures to resolve the issue and the matter remained pending.

The legal opinion was issued in November 2011; the delay caused a loss of 27 billion rupees.