RPPs Case: Ashraf asks SC to form a judicial commission

“I do not understand why PM has asked the court to institute a commission he could have formed himself,” says...

ISLAMABAD:

In a fresh twist in the rental power plants (RPPs) case, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf – who is among those accused – has written a letter to the Supreme Court (SC), requesting it to form a judicial commission to look into the case.

With just a handful of days remaining before the end of the incumbent government’s tenure, Prime Minister Ashraf has asked the court to direct an independent inquiry into the RPPs case by Federal Tax Ombudsman Shoaib Suddle. The move is seen by constitutional experts as an effort by the premier to find a way out before the elections as the chief executive has the authority to institute the commission himself.

“Under the Commission of Inquiry Act, the government can form an inquiry commission without getting permission from the court,” Dr Khalid Ranjha told The Express Tribune.

“I do not understand why he has asked the court to institute a commission he could have formed himself,” he added. Dr Ranjha suggested safeguarding foreign investment in the country could be a likely reason for seeking the court’s intervention.

“The Prime Minister will have to satisfy the SC about his lack of confidence in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which is investigating the RPPs case,” opined constitutional expert Salman Raja.  He said PM Ashraf may have taken precedent from Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s son Arsalan Iftikhar, who expressed no confidence in NAB and asked for an independent commission.

“But in that case, the accused raised objections against the investigators,” noted Raja. He further maintained that it would have been better if PM Ashraf pleaded to be a party in the case and submitted his arguments before the court.

According to sources in the SC, the Prime Minister, in his letter, maintained the allegations against him in the RPPs case had undermined the dignity of his office and reputation of the country.

The SC had earlier directed NAB to arrest all the accused in the case, including PM Ashraf. The premier was accused of taking kickbacks while awarding the contracts for the RPPs during his tenure as minister for water and power.

In its verdict announced on March 30, 2012, the SC dissolved all the RPPs and directed the NAB to carry out legal proceedings against all those involved in the corruption. Former federal minister for housing and works Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat, a politician from Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, had moved the apex court against Ashraf, accusing him of corruption in the RPPs case.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2013.