Power woes: NAB drags its feet on rental power plant cases

Only three out of 12 references filed to date.

LAHORE:

Four years after the Supreme Court took suo motu notice of the Rental Power Projects (RPPs) scandal, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has yet to reach a conclusion on the multibillion-rupee case.

A three-judge bench, headed by then-chief justice Iftikhar Muhammand Chaudhry, was set up in May 2010 and according to copies of documents available with The Express Tribune, NAB has filed three references in 12 cases; four cases are still at the inquiry stage.

NAB spokesperson Ramzam Sajid told The Express Tribune that all three references were filed during the current chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhary’s tenure. Conversely, only one interim reference in the M/s Walter Power International-Naudero-II case was filed during the previous chairman Admiral (retd) Fasih Bukhari’s tenure. While progress has been slow, Sajid said NAB has recovered a total of Rs771 million in the RPP cases.

The references filed on March 1 in accountability courts are M/s Walter Power International-Naudero-II, M/s Pakistan Power Resources, Piranghaib, Multan and M/s Techno Engineering Services, Sahuwal, Sialkot.

On February, 21, 2013, NAB Chairman Chaudhry approved two references in the RPP case during a meeting of the executive board at NAB’s headquarters. The references were approved in the case of Piranghaib, Multan, and Techno Engineering Services (Pvt) Ltd Sahuwal, Sialkot, for alleged corruption, corrupt practices and misuse of authority in awarding RPPs contracts. The accused are charged with concealing facts while receiving approval for the contracts and making post-bid changes, causing a loss of $60 million to the national exchequer.

According to NAB officials, 19 people have been indicted in both references, including former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, a former federal minister, former federal sectaries Shahid Rafi and Ismail Qureshi, former managing director PEPCO Tahir Basharat Cheema and others.

On November 6, 2013, NAB had filed a supplementary reference in the Islamabad accountability court against former prime minister and minister of water and power Raja Pervez Ashraf in the Naudero-II rental power plant case.

An interim reference was filed earlier against nine others for the misuse of authority and violation of rules while awarding unsolicited project at Naudero-II and shifting of equipment from one project to another.

According to NAB officials, an interim investigation report has been forwarded to the NAB headquarters for approval of a draft reference. According to NAB’s report, the sponsor’s liability in the case of M/s KARKEY, Karadeniz Elektrik Uretim A.S is $130 million.

In Pakistan Power Resources, Guddu, an investigation report has been completed and submitted for legal vetting in NAB Rawalpindi’s prosecution wing.

Investigation into M/s Techno-E-Power Sammundri, Faisalabad, is under way. According to the NAB investigation report, the total liability in this case is Rs2.8 billion, of which Rs771 million has been recovered.

Investigations into M/s Pakistan Power Resources, Bhikki, Sheikhupura and M/s Walter Power International Naudero-I are under way.

The four cases still at an inquiry stage are M/s Gulf Rental Eminabad, Gujranwala, M/s Reshma Power Generation Company, M/s GE Power Generation Sharqpur and M/s Young Gen, Satyana Road, Faisalabad.

According to NAB officials, an inquiry report in M/s Young Gen, Satyana Road, Faisalabad, has been finalised and forwarded to the NAB headquarters for authorisation of an investigation. Additionally, the total liability in this case is Rs371 million. NAB’s report also revealed that an inquiry against M/s Gulf Rental Eminabad, Gujranwala, is in its final stages.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2014.