ISLAMABAD           -             Former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and other accused on Monday skipped indictment in a case pertaining to the alleged illegal award of government advertisement contracts. Judge Azam Khan deferred indictment of the accused including former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and other accused over their non appearance before the court.

Meanwhile, former PIO Saleem Baig filed plea seeking his acquittal from the case under the NAB ordinance introduced by the government. Opposing the plea, NAB’s prosecutor said the federal government has already took back the NAB ordinance in the National Assembly. “The government has made an announcement too in this regard”.

The court ordering the NAB to present its clear stance on the NAB ordinance adjourned the hearing till January 30. Ex-PM Yousaf Raza Gilani, former secretary of Information Technology Farooq Awan, former press information officer (PIO) Mohammad Saleem, former company secretary Universal Service Fund Syed Hasan Sheikh and other individuals were nominated in the corruption reference. According to NAB, they allegedly misused their positions to illegally grant an advertising contract in contravention of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules, causing a loss of Rs129.07 million.