ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Friday approved a plea bargain between an accused in the fake bank accounts case and the anti-graft watchdog.

Accountability judge excluded the name of Harish Ji from the list of the accused.

The National Accountability Bureau informed the accountability court that NAB chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal had accepted the application filed by Mr Harish in which he had consented to pay Rs20.03 million under the plea bargain.

The court inquired from the accused whether he is making the payment of his own free will. The accused replied in the affirmative.

“Do you know you cannot contest elections for 10 years [if you enter the bargain]?” asked the judge.

“I am not planning to contest the elections,” Mr Harish replied.

Subsequently, the court approved the application filed by NAB seeking deletion of Mr Harish’s name from the list of the accused persons.

NAB has claimed that M/s Harish and Company was awarded a contract for water supply from the Sindh Special Initiative Department but it failed to complete the project, and the funds were used to meet the expenses of Naudero House.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2019