With a whopping difference of $8 million in the calculations of outstanding dues owed by a banished Turkish rental power project, the Supreme Court has warned the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman that he will be held responsible if there is any discrepancy in the final amount.
On Monday, NAB presented a statement before a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, maintaining that the amount owed by Turkish power producer Karkey is $120 million. The bureau’s statement was signed by its Chairman Admiral (Retd) Fasih Bokhari and investigation officer in the case Colonel (Retd) Shahzad Bhatti.
However, the petitioner, former minister Faisal Saleh Hayat, contended before the court that this figure is actually $128 million. In earlier proceedings, Hayat had held that the total amount due from the Turkish ship-mounted power producer was $243 million.
The chief justice disposed of the case after warning that, in case it is revealed that the amount to be refunded exceeds figures presented by NAB, the chairman will be held responsible.
The court also reminded the government’s counsels that the project, Karkey, should not be allowed to leave Pakistani waters unless the dues were refunded. If this happens, the authorities, including NAB, would be held responsible.
The court recalled that NAB had given the court an undertaking that Karkey would not be allowed to leave unless the dues were paid. However, NAB Prosecutor-General KK Agha said that the bureau has already withdrawn the undertaking – pointing out that the matter was a sensitive one given Pakistan’s relations with Turkey.
He also informed the court that the Turkish ambassador had been in touch with the Pakistan government over the issue. To this, the chief justice shot back that the court was well aware of the sensitivity of the matter, and did not need to be constantly reminded.
To a query of the bench, Agha said that bank guarantees had been arranged in case Karkey left Pakistan. Justice Gulzar Ahmad observed that bank guarantees should not be arranged outside Pakistan because recovery becomes problematic.
The chief justice said that Rental Power Projects (RPPs) had already been declared illegal by the court, and, besides carrying a civil liability, the case also has a criminal aspect – suggesting that NAB kick-start criminal proceedings against officials involved in the scam.
Karkey was one of the many contentious RPPs that the government had arranged two years ago in the face of a burgeoning power shortfall in the country. However, the Supreme Court later ruled that the RPP deals should be declared null and void because the amount of financial and other discrepancies in the deals. Aside from ordering action against those accused, including then power minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, who is now the prime minister, the court had also ordered that all money given to the RPPs should be recovered.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 27th, 2012.
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