CAIRO: An Egyptian court Sunday acquitted former prime minister Hesham Qandil of charges of law violation for not carrying out a court order.
Qandil, who served during the one-year rule of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, was earlier sentenced to one year jail-term for violating a court order to terminate the privatisation contract of a state-owned company, Xinhua reported citing MENA news agency.
The Court of Cassation overturned the verdict and acquitted the Islamist-oriented ex-prime minister.
The prison department confirmed that Qandil will be released due to his acquittal, unless he is wanted in any other cases.
Qandil's unsatisfactory performance and Morsi's insistence to keep him were among the main reasons that led to opposition uproar and eventually to Morsi's removal.
Qandil's acquittal is seen as the first breakthrough for high-profile Morsi loyalists since the massive crackdown on Morsi's supporters following his military ouster last year.
Over the past 10 months, over 1,000 of Morsi's supporters were killed and thousands others were arrested in a massive security crackdown launched by the interim leadership.
Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group has been blacklisted by the new leadership as "a terrorist organisation" with most of its leaders in custody.