The Supreme Court’s observations in two different cases concerning the Rental Power Projects (RPPs) and Pakistan Railways (PR) have brought additional pressure to bear upon the government at a time when it is facing scathing criticism from the opposition for patronising corruption and overlooking gross financial mismanagement in public sector organisations.
A two-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, which took suo motu cognizance of the state of affairs in Pakistan Railways after the death of a pensioner, warned the senior Railway officers on Friday that their salary cheques would be seized if they failed to pay pensions to the ex-employees immediately. The court also took a serious view of the fact that the concerned authorities were treating the pensioners as beggars. The CJ had a point in that the Secretary Railway Board should have resigned when he acknowledged that over 300 locomotives were out of order for some time and referred to the efforts being made to engage the private sector to enhance department’s revenues.
The same Bench hearing the RPPs’ case rejected the report submitted by the Ministry of Water and Power and sought details pertaining to the power production of the rental projects, payment made to them in advance, their dates of operation, cost per unit and tariff being charged to consumers. But what makes the case both interesting and unusual is that the proceedings were initiated on a petition filed by Federal Housing and Works Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat who had exposed the mega scandal during his days in the opposition. An identical petition by PML(N) MNA Kh Asif was also attached to the case.
The government cannot blame the courts for unnecessarily interfering in what is essentially its domain when it remains unconcerned about governance. Repeating the issue over and again even at the cost of repletion, the executive would be well advised to refrain from burdening the judiciary with matters it is supposed to sort out and manage itself.
