Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ordered  the arrest of the prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf as part of a long-running corruption investigation.

The Supreme Court  issued the arrest order for Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and a number of other officials over allegations of illegal payments for electricity generating projects when Ashraf was minister for water and power,CNN reported

Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf

The Supreme Court order says the prime minister and the others should be arrested and produced before court within 24 hours.

62-year-old Ashraf, who became Prime Minister after the exit of Yousuf Raza Gilani in June last year, has been accused of receiving kickbacks and commission in the Rental Power Projects (RPPs) .

Television images showed demonstrators, led by Tahirul Qadri, celebrating and triumphantly applauding as news broke of the court’s order to arrest the Prime Minister.

Legal experts however argue that court had ordered the arrest of Ashraf even though he had not been convicted for corruption in the power projects .They say the judiciary’s action was in some way linked to Qadri’s efforts to remove the government.

By UP