Verdict out: Dissolve all rental power projects, says SC
Apex court orders legal proceedings against former minister Raja Pervez Ashraf.
ISLAMABAD:
Announcing the verdict of the rental power plant case on Friday, a two-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar (CJ) Muhammad Chaudhry said that all the rental power projects should be dissolved.
Declaring all rental power project contracts “illegal”, the Chief Justice said legal proceedings should be carried out against all those involved in the corruption.
He added that public sector power generation companies (Gencos), Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco), Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) and the federal government is responsible for the corruption of billions of rupees.
The SC observed that the policy of the rental power projects was not defined on a transparent basis. Rather than overcoming circular debt, the authorities endorsed more contracts, the CJ added.
He directed that legal proceedings should be carried out against the former federal minister for water and power Raja Pervez Ashraf and the then secretary finance for water and power.
The SC also noted that the markup should be paid in addition to the retrieval of money. The verdict was passed on cases involving alleged corruption in contracts of and payments to rental power plants detected by the Nepra.
The applicants, Minister for Housing and Works Faisal Saleh Hayat and MNA Khawaja Muhammad Asif appeared in person while the government departments, sponsors and owners of the rental power plants were represented by their counsels.
The judgement was reserved on December 14 last year and was announced today.
Announcing the verdict of the rental power plant case on Friday, a two-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar (CJ) Muhammad Chaudhry said that all the rental power projects should be dissolved.
Declaring all rental power project contracts “illegal”, the Chief Justice said legal proceedings should be carried out against all those involved in the corruption.
He added that public sector power generation companies (Gencos), Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco), Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) and the federal government is responsible for the corruption of billions of rupees.
The SC observed that the policy of the rental power projects was not defined on a transparent basis. Rather than overcoming circular debt, the authorities endorsed more contracts, the CJ added.
He directed that legal proceedings should be carried out against the former federal minister for water and power Raja Pervez Ashraf and the then secretary finance for water and power.
The SC also noted that the markup should be paid in addition to the retrieval of money. The verdict was passed on cases involving alleged corruption in contracts of and payments to rental power plants detected by the Nepra.
The applicants, Minister for Housing and Works Faisal Saleh Hayat and MNA Khawaja Muhammad Asif appeared in person while the government departments, sponsors and owners of the rental power plants were represented by their counsels.
The judgement was reserved on December 14 last year and was announced today.