"I resign from the post of Adviser to PM on Parliamentary Affairs, so that I may disprove allegations levelled [against me] in the NAB reference," read a copy of Awan's resignation letter. He said being a legal practitioner, he did not find it adequate to keep the post while facing an inquiry.
Earlier in the day, NAB filed a corruption reference against Awan and former Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf regarding delay in Nandipur Power Project in Accountability Courts Islamabad. The corruption references were filed after a commission, which had been formed after the directives of the top court, had held officials of the Ministry of Law and Justice responsible for the delay.
Back on August 11, an interim investigation report, submitted by the NAB in the Supreme Court, had revealed that the country suffered a loss of Rs 113 billion in the construction of Nandipur power project due to delay caused by the Federal Ministry of Law in 2009. It was during the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led government that a petition against the delay was filed by former foreign minister and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Khawaja Asif in 2011.
The apex court on October 26, 2011 constituted a commission to probe into the delay and assigned the task to Justice Rahmat Hussain Jaffri (retd). The commission examined the relevant witnesses and submitted its report on April 9, 2012.