Missing in action: Senate body orders arrest of KESC chief executive
Despite repeated notifications, CEO Tabish Gohar failed to appear before Senate panel.
ISLAMABAD:
A parliamentary panel has directed the interior and Sindh chief secretaries to issue arrest warrants against Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) chief Tabish Gohar, and present him before the panel on December 3.
The Senate Standing Committee on Water and Power – in a meeting held on November 6 – had given a deadline of two days to the KESC chief executive officer (CEO) to appear before it, following a plea from the Ministry of Water and Power.
Water and Power Secretary Nargas Sethi had also endorsed the committee’s decision to issue an arrest warrant against Gohar.
The water and power secretary said that CEO should have attended the meetings to answer the parliamentarian’s queries. She stated that the Senate committee was a supreme body; therefore, he should have been there to resolve the issues of the masses. Sethi revealed that the Ministry of Water and Power had written a letter to the CEO to ensure his presence in the committee but he had not paid any heed.
Chairman of the Senate body Zahid Khan said that the absentee CEO had written a letter to the committee saying that he could not attend the meeting. “We are issuing warrants and sending notices to the interior secretary and Sindh chief secretary to arrest him and present him before the committee by December 3 in line with rules and regulations,” Khan said, adding that Gohar was disrespecting parliament. “We are here to resolve issues of the masses but he (Gohar) does not care for it.”
Shahi Sayed, another member of the Senate committee, said that KESC had turned into a “white elephant” and alleged that it was involved in corruption worth billions of rupees. “I have read the agreement of KESC that is based on fraud,” he claimed.
Sayed added that KESC’s management did not respect the Senate body and therefore action should be taken against it. He said that a high-level committee, comprising Sindh’s governor, had decided to restore the employees of KESC in 2011 but the next day, the company’s CEO had held a press conference against the decision.
Meanwhile, an official of the KESC said that the company was being run by its board of directors and therefore the board could authorise any official to appear before the committee.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 9th, 2012.
A parliamentary panel has directed the interior and Sindh chief secretaries to issue arrest warrants against Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) chief Tabish Gohar, and present him before the panel on December 3.
The Senate Standing Committee on Water and Power – in a meeting held on November 6 – had given a deadline of two days to the KESC chief executive officer (CEO) to appear before it, following a plea from the Ministry of Water and Power.
Water and Power Secretary Nargas Sethi had also endorsed the committee’s decision to issue an arrest warrant against Gohar.
The water and power secretary said that CEO should have attended the meetings to answer the parliamentarian’s queries. She stated that the Senate committee was a supreme body; therefore, he should have been there to resolve the issues of the masses. Sethi revealed that the Ministry of Water and Power had written a letter to the CEO to ensure his presence in the committee but he had not paid any heed.
Chairman of the Senate body Zahid Khan said that the absentee CEO had written a letter to the committee saying that he could not attend the meeting. “We are issuing warrants and sending notices to the interior secretary and Sindh chief secretary to arrest him and present him before the committee by December 3 in line with rules and regulations,” Khan said, adding that Gohar was disrespecting parliament. “We are here to resolve issues of the masses but he (Gohar) does not care for it.”
Shahi Sayed, another member of the Senate committee, said that KESC had turned into a “white elephant” and alleged that it was involved in corruption worth billions of rupees. “I have read the agreement of KESC that is based on fraud,” he claimed.
Sayed added that KESC’s management did not respect the Senate body and therefore action should be taken against it. He said that a high-level committee, comprising Sindh’s governor, had decided to restore the employees of KESC in 2011 but the next day, the company’s CEO had held a press conference against the decision.
Meanwhile, an official of the KESC said that the company was being run by its board of directors and therefore the board could authorise any official to appear before the committee.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 9th, 2012.