Federal Housing and Works Minister Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat contended before the Supreme Court on Wednesday that completion of Rental Power Projects (RPPs) worth Rs 5 billion was deliberately delayed by the Water and Power Ministry just to get huge kickbacks. Hayat, a main petitioner who challenged alleged corruption in the contract of RPPs, submitted that the Water and Power Ministry had presented wrong figures about RPPs before the government as well as cabinet, which led to a severe power crisis in the country. He said the Asian Development Bank also mentioned in its report the wrong figures presented by the ministry. He said completion of RPPs was delayed deliberately just to get huge kickbacks.
Khawaja Tariq Rahim, counsel for the Water and Power Ministry, objected to Hayat’s appearance before the court being a federal minister, stating that he was part of the government thus was required to get prior permission from the competent authority (the prime minister in this case) before appearing in court. However, the court rejected his objection. Shahid Hamid, counsel for various rental power companies, told the court that Hayat was morally bound to resign prior to appearing in court like Babar Awan and Zulfiqar Mirza, both of whom had resigned their posts before doing so.
“I should not be taught the lesson of morality, as I have been member of the National Assembly six times, besides serving as a minister as well,” Hayat responded, adding that he remembered “the words of my oath by heart”. At the outset of hearing, the court constituted a commission to be headed by Justice (r) Rahmat Hussain Jafferi to determine who was responsible for the delay in completing the RPPs. The bench, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, was hearing a suo motu case involving allegations of corruption in the contract of RPPs. The court asked the commission to submit a report on the matter within four weeks, empowering it to get assistance of any experts if needed. It also ordered continuation of work on both the RPPs of Nandi Pur and Chichunkimallian. The court noted that failure to complete the RPPs was a result of deliberate negligence, which caused huge losses to the national exchequer. It said it would get opinion of the relevant experts and then refer the cases to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Hayat requested the court to allow him some time as he was not prepared to argue the case, which the court allowed and adjourned further hearing for today (Thursday).
