RPP suspect working with Chinese firm wants name off ECL

Petition filed in IHC but yet to be heard

ISLAMABAD: A man working for a Chinese company producing electricity in Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has sought help from the Islamabad High Court in having his name removed from the Exit Control List (ECL).

His name was included in the ECL over his alleged involvement in Rental Power Projects (RPPs).

Noorul Arifeen Zuberi, a former executive director of the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) - an attached department of the Ministry of Water and Power, filed a petition in the IHC to have his name struck off the ECL.

Through his counsel Fawzi Zaffar, Zuberi named the federation through the secretary of the Interior Ministry and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as the respondents.



The case has yet to be fixed before a court. NAB, through the interior ministry, had Zuberi’s name included in the ECL in October 2012. NAB had arrested Zuberi on May 3, 2014, and he was subsequently granted bail on February 23, 2015, by the Islamabad High Court. But over five years later, Zaffar said, a copy of the order placing petitioner’s name on ECL had yet to be served on the petitioner - required under Rule 3 of the ECL Rules.

The counsel noted that since Zuberi was now working with a Chinese multinational, he has to undertake visits to other countries for a number of official reasons, but was unable to do so because his name was on the ECL. In his petition, Zuberi argued that all investigations against him had been completed while references were also filed against him, but his name was still on the ECL.

While highlighting that the travel ban was an infringement on the petitioner’s freedom of movement, the counsel referred to the case of General (retired) Pervez Musharraf where the Supreme Court had observed that fundamental rights of a citizen cannot be abridged or denied arbitrarily on mere liking or disliking without any lawful justification.

Zaffar said that the PPIB was set up to facilitate private sector investment in the power sector, adding that the cabinet of the federal government had decided to develop RPPs through the private sector to meet the rising power shortfall in 2008.



The initiatives were taken in “good faith” to provide relief to consumers in the shortest possible time and all the initiatives were duly approved by the competent forums of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), the cabinet and the boards of relevant entities.

Based on those decisions, Zaffar said, the PPIB prepared a proposal and participated in the competitive bidding process for RPPs and underwent three bidding rounds between May 2008 and December 2008.

Following the bidding, he said, Karkey Rental Power Project, Gulf Rental Power Project and Reshma Rental Power Project were approved.

He added that the financial components of the bid were handled by the Ministry of Finance, the tariff was approved by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) while the PPIB handled technical aspects and its role was restricted to coordination and processing of the proposals subject to the approval of the government.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2017.