Following his appearance in court in connection with the Nooriabad reference on Thursday, Mr Shah addressed the media and provided remarks on the case. The Sindh CM is facing allegations of misusing his authority as provincial adviser by awarding contracts without proper feasibility studies, leading to a significant loss of Rs8 billion to the exchequer. The reference is linked to the broader fake accounts case, where Mr Shah is accused of leveraging his influence to release funds for the Nooriabad Power Plant in a manner that violated established rules.
The NPP project was initiated in 2014 through a public-private partnership, with the Sindh government holding a 49 percent stake and a private company owning the remaining 51 percent shares. It is claimed that Mr Shah concealed crucial information from the Sindh cabinet and allegedly misled them to benefit the Omni Group, owned by Anwar Majeed, who is a close associate of former President Asif Zardari. Additionally, Mr Shah is alleged to have facilitated a Rs3 billion loan to the companies linked to the project.
Mr Shah’s legal counsel, Arshad Tabrez, informed the court that the matter falls under the National Accountability Ordinance and is currently pending adjudication before the Supreme Court. He suggested that the accountability judge should await the final decision of the apex court and subsequently, the hearing was adjourned till June 26.
During his interaction with the media after the hearing, CM Sindh expressed his dissatisfaction with the prolonged nature of the proceedings, stating that over 50 hearings had been conducted without much progress. He criticized NAB for filing what he described as a “flawed” reference and proposed a comparison of the cost-effectiveness of the legal process.
Meanwhile, in a separate case, the judicial magistrate Suhaib Bilal Ranjha summoned witnesses in a case involving allegations of liquor possession and the display of weapons against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur. CM Gandapur sought exemption from appearing in court, which was granted, leading to the adjournment of further proceedings to the following day.
