Dual criteria of justice in country, says Raja Pervaiz Ashraf

LAHORE (INP): Former Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Saturday said that criteria of justice should be equal for all, those who are facing huge corruption allegations are free from accountability.

Speaking outside an accountability court after hearing of illegal appointment case against him, the Pakistan Peoples’ Party leader said that there are dual standards for justice in the country – institutions should end it and bring uniformity.

Ashraf said that his party has always respected the judiciary and implemented on its decisions.

“Those who are facing huge corruption allegations have not been named in the ECL list, but my name has been listed for appointing people for Grade 4 vacancies,” he added.

He said that the country’s economy and institutions are in disarray and there is no trace of governance in the country today. “Country is going through most difficult time period when institutions are being insulted on regular basis,” he said.

An accountability court on Sep 19 indicted Ashraf and eight others in a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference in a case related to alleged illegal recruitment in the Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco).

According to the NAB reference, Ashraf recruited as many as 437 people without taking merit into consideration. The accountability court heard the case filed by NAB in 2016.

The other eight people indicted in the case are Muhammad Ibrahim, Hashmat Ali Kazmi, Tahir Basharat Cheema, Malik Muhammad Razi Abbas, Saleem Arif, Wazir Ali and Shahid Rafi.