ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Islamabad indicted former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and six others in the rental power case on Friday, DawnNews reported.

All accused, including the former federal mister for water and power, refused to plead guilty whereas the bench hearing the case sought all relevant evidence from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the next hearing of the case which was adjourned until February 4.

Talking to media persons, after the hearing, the former prime minister belonging to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said that he could not comment on the issue as the matter was sub-judice.

He further said that the character assimilation campaign being run on the media was regrettable.

Mr Ashraf is accused of misusing his authority during his tenure as the minister for water and power to obtain approval from the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) and the cabinet for an increase in the down payment to the rental power companies from 7 per cent to 14 per cent, amounting to about Rs22 billion.

He authorised on April 13, 2009, the submission of a summary to the ECC which allegedly contained misleading facts, stating that the terms and conditions of the bidding envisaging 7 per cent advance could not be met and should be raised to 14 per cent.