Islamabad, Aug 1: Pakistan's top anti-graft body today decided to file a corruption case against former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani and several former top officials of the Ministry of Information Technology. The decision was taken during a meeting of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) at its headquarters in Islamabad. Gillani and others are accused of misusing their authority to illegally grant an advertising contract in contravention of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules, Dawn reported.

The act is reported to have cost the national treasury Rs 129.07 million.

Gillani served as 19th prime minister from March 25, 2008 until his disqualification and ouster by the Supreme Court on April 26, 2012.

The meeting also granted approval for the launch of investigations in four different cases against former president Asif Ali Zardari's foster brother, Owais Muzaffar alias Tappi, who was the Sindh local bodies' minister, the paper said.

Other Sindh government officials named in connection with the same investigations include former Sindh chief secretary Raja Muhammad Abbas, and the Sindh Land Utilisation Department's former secretaries Ghulam Mustafa Phul and Ghulam Abbas Soomro, it added. These individuals are said to have abused their authority to illegally allot several hundred acres of land by the Malir river, which has reportedly cost the national treasury Rs 33 billion.