Accountability court acquits Raja Pervez Ashraf in illegal appointments case.

LAHORE -- An accountability court in Lahore on Monday acquitted former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and seven others in a case related to illegal recruitments in the Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO).

Accountability court judge Amjad Nazir Chaudhry accepted the request for the dismissal of the case which had been filed recently after the government introduced amendments to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance.

NAB had filed a reference against the former PM in 2016 for recruiting 437 people illegally to GEPCO. According to the NAB prosecutor, individuals who had not even applied were given jobs, merit was ignored and appointments had been made on a political basis. The recruitments had also violated the policy of written examinations and domicile, NAB alleged.

The reference had nominated, along with Raja Pervaiz Ashraf...