Background: What is the RPPs case?
At the eye of the storm was the Karkey Rental Power Plant.
PM Ashraf himself held the post of water and power minister from March 2008 to February 2011. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
It was on March 30, 2012, that the Supreme Court pulled the plug on the rental power projects (RPPs), ordering action against current Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and others. And it was during the culmination of Dr Tahirul Qadri’s long march that the Supreme Court ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to arrest Ashraf and the 15 others implicated in the RPPs case.
The RPPs case first came to the SC’s attention when PML-Q leader Faisal Saleh Hayat issued a press statement on September 8, 2009, calling upon the apex court to take notice of what he alleged were financial irregularities and corruption on a massive scale.
Hayat was then directed to furnish evidence to support his accusations, which he did on the 26th of the same month. While the petition was pending, the PML-N’s Khawaja Muhammad Asif also joined the proceedings.
At the eye of the storm was the Karkey Rental Power Plant. During the hearing of the petition, officials of the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) disclosed that the govt was paying as much as $9 million a month to Karkey, despite the fact that only 30mw out of the agreed 230mw was actually being supplied. After rescinding the RPP contracts in 2012, the SC had ordered the NAB chairman to proceed with corruption references against the accused.
In September 2012, the SC issued show cause notices to NAB officials, asking them why they had not taken action against Raja Pervaiz Ashraf despite clear directions from the apex court.
On Tuesday, the apex court ordered NAB to arrest PM, who served as water and power minister from March 2008 to February 2011, along with the other accused. Other accused are former federal ministers Liaqat Ali Khan Jatoi, Tariq Hamid, former Federal Minister for Finance, Shoukat Tareen, former Secretaries Water and Power, Shahid Rafi, Muhammad Ismail Qureshi, Ishfaq Mehmood, former Secretary Finance, Salman Siddique, former Chairmen NEPRA, Khalid Saeed, Lieutenant General Saeeduz Zafar (Retd), CEO GENCO, Yousaf Ali, former MDs, PPIB, Khalid Irfan Rahman, Fayyaz Elahi, Yousaf Memon, former MDs Pepco, Tahir Basharat Cheema, Munawar Baseer Ahmad, CEOs Pepco, Muhammad Arif Saleem, Fazal Ahmad Khan and Chaudhary Muhammd Anwar.
Liaquat Jatoi held the post of minister for water and power in 2006, while Shaukat Tareen was finance minister in 2008. PM Ashraf himself held the post of water and power minister from March 2008 to February 2011.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2013.
It was on March 30, 2012, that the Supreme Court pulled the plug on the rental power projects (RPPs), ordering action against current Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and others. And it was during the culmination of Dr Tahirul Qadri’s long march that the Supreme Court ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to arrest Ashraf and the 15 others implicated in the RPPs case.
The RPPs case first came to the SC’s attention when PML-Q leader Faisal Saleh Hayat issued a press statement on September 8, 2009, calling upon the apex court to take notice of what he alleged were financial irregularities and corruption on a massive scale.
Hayat was then directed to furnish evidence to support his accusations, which he did on the 26th of the same month. While the petition was pending, the PML-N’s Khawaja Muhammad Asif also joined the proceedings.
At the eye of the storm was the Karkey Rental Power Plant. During the hearing of the petition, officials of the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) disclosed that the govt was paying as much as $9 million a month to Karkey, despite the fact that only 30mw out of the agreed 230mw was actually being supplied. After rescinding the RPP contracts in 2012, the SC had ordered the NAB chairman to proceed with corruption references against the accused.
In September 2012, the SC issued show cause notices to NAB officials, asking them why they had not taken action against Raja Pervaiz Ashraf despite clear directions from the apex court.
On Tuesday, the apex court ordered NAB to arrest PM, who served as water and power minister from March 2008 to February 2011, along with the other accused. Other accused are former federal ministers Liaqat Ali Khan Jatoi, Tariq Hamid, former Federal Minister for Finance, Shoukat Tareen, former Secretaries Water and Power, Shahid Rafi, Muhammad Ismail Qureshi, Ishfaq Mehmood, former Secretary Finance, Salman Siddique, former Chairmen NEPRA, Khalid Saeed, Lieutenant General Saeeduz Zafar (Retd), CEO GENCO, Yousaf Ali, former MDs, PPIB, Khalid Irfan Rahman, Fayyaz Elahi, Yousaf Memon, former MDs Pepco, Tahir Basharat Cheema, Munawar Baseer Ahmad, CEOs Pepco, Muhammad Arif Saleem, Fazal Ahmad Khan and Chaudhary Muhammd Anwar.
Liaquat Jatoi held the post of minister for water and power in 2006, while Shaukat Tareen was finance minister in 2008. PM Ashraf himself held the post of water and power minister from March 2008 to February 2011.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2013.