Says Wapda gave AG unfair advantage in the transaction. PHOTO: FILE
The Supreme Court on Thursday issued its detailed judgment on cancelling a ‘farcical and mala fide’ deal between Wapda and Associated Group (AG) to run the Lakhra Power Plant.
Wapda had leased the power plant in 2006, during Musharraf era, for a period of 20 years in a manner that according to court appeared to be an attempt to paper over the illegalities.
In 2006 it was the only coal-based power plant in the country. It had capacity to generate 150 MW of electricity using coal extracted from the Lakhra area of Dadu, according to a government funded study of the same year which proposed another coal mining and thermal power project of higher capacity in the area.
However, the people at the helm of affairs bundled off the project in a transaction beset with irregularities.
“The admitted record reveals that AG was unilaterally given prior access to the Lakhra Power Plant evidencing the availability of an unfair advantage,” the judgment read.
AG had access to the decision making authorities at the highest level not only in Wapda but also in the Presidency, it further said.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Sh Azmat Saeed heard the case. The detailed judgment was authored by Justice Sh Azmat Saeed.
The short order announced on August 21, 2013 had nullified the AG-Wapda deal and directed the federal government to fix the civil and criminal liability.
The decision in principle to award the contract to AG was taken on March 22, 2006 at the highest level by the then president and prime minister and the chairman of Wapda. Thereafter, without issuing any advertisement, some firms were contacted in July to file bids.
“Such procedure was not only illegal but in fact a farcical and mala fide attempt to clothe the transaction with some semblance of legality,” reads the judgment. “The said process and the subsequent approval by the Board of Wapda to AG appear to be an infertile attempt to paper over the illegalities,” it added.
The judgment says the power plant is a public asset and those entrusted therewith were sadly found wanting. The transaction has not only been disowned by the federal government, but it has also taken the stand that the transaction was beset with irregularities with the sole purpose of benefiting AG.
It was also observed that the counsel appearing for AG found himself unable to defend the process culminating in the transaction in question, leaving Wapda floundering alone in the sea of its own irregularities and illegalities.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 11th, 2013.
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