Changes to NEPRA Act sought

Balochistan fails to nominate tribunal member as it could not meet criteria

ISLAMABAD:

The government of Balochistan has not been able to meet the criteria set for nominating a candidate for appointment as a member of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s (Nepra) Appellate Tribunal and has asked the federal government to make certain amendments to the Nepra Act.

Owing to the inability of Balochistan government, Punjab has now got its member electricity appointed in the tribunal.

Sources told The Express Tribune that the Law and Justice Division had approached the government of Balochistan, seeking its recommendation for appointing the member electricity.

However, the provincial government conveyed its inability to recommend a suitable candidate and proposed that nomination may be sought from some other province. Furthermore, Balochistan proposed certain amendments to the Nepra Act.

Pursuant to the Law and Justice Division’s request, the Energy Department, Government of Sindh, recommended Syed ZainuI Abdin Shah for the post of member finance (MP-II) in the Nepra tribunal.

The Law Division informed the cabinet in a recent meeting that Nepra’s Appellate Tribunal in Islamabad had been established under Section 12A of the Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power Act, 1997 (Nepra Act) for the entire country.

As per the Act, the tribunal comprises a chairman and two members, ie member finance and member electricity, both in the MP-II scale.

Sections 12A and 12B of the Act define the qualification, eligibility criteria and tenure of member finance and member electricity.

Following the recommendation of the government of Sindh, the Law Division initiated the process of appointing Zeeshan Shahid as member finance, which was approved by the federal cabinet.

However, the candidate conveyed his inability to join the tribunal. Subsequently, fresh nominations were sought.

Sindh nominated a panel of three aspirants along with its recommendation. The Law Division brought another summary on May 5 for the cabinet’s approval.

However, the Cabinet Division returned the summary with remarks that “a nomination is required, not a panel”. The Law Division reverted back to the government of Sindh in the light of the Cabinet Division’s observation.

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Keeping in view the directives of the Islamabad High Court as well as the Sindh High Court, the Law Division approached the government of Punjab for the requisite nomination for the slot of member electricity.

Recently, the Punjab government recommended a panel of three candidates which included Salman Aizad, Muhammad Nadeem and Major (Retd) Asif Nazir.

Based on the recommendations of Sindh and Punjab, the Ministry of Law and Justice proposed that Syed Zainul Abdin Shah may be appointed member finance for a period of three years, on a contract basis, and on standard terms and conditions.

It also proposed that Salman Aizad, who appeared at first place in the panel in the order of merit, may be appointed member electricity for a period of three years, on a contract basis, and on standard terms and conditions.

During discussion, the law minister pointed out that earlier approval of the cabinet was sought through circulation, but a cabinet member came up with the observation that member electricity should be from Balochistan and for the purpose the provincial government should be approached again.

Explaining the difficulty being faced by Balochistan in finding a qualified candidate, who was willing to accept the position at the given pay package, the law minister assured the cabinet that the Nepra Act would be amended suitably.

The cabinet considered a summary titled “Appointment of member (finance) and member (electricity) in MP-II scale in the Appellate Tribunal, submitted by the Law Division, and approved the proposals.­­

Published in The Express Tribune, June 9^th, 2022.

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