A two-member Supreme Court bench on Monday directed the Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) to ensure recovery of Rs 1.35 billion from Reshma Rental Power Project (RPP) as mark-up.
The Reshma RPP has already deposited Rs 4.57 billion, which it had taken as mobilisation advance, however, it has so far failed to deposit Rs 1.35 billion as markup of the total amount it had taken in advance.
A two-member Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain was hearing a suo motu case along with two identical petitions filed by Federal Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat and PML-N MNA Khawaja Muhammad Asif against corruption in the contract of rental power projects (RPPs).
Appearing on notice, PEPCO’s counsel told the court that PEPCO had received Rs 4.57 billion from Reshma RPP, while Rs 1.35 billion mark-up had yet to be paid, for which the client had given notice.
He said if Reshma failed to pay the mark-up, its machinery would be confiscated, adding that the machinery was worth the same amount.
The chief justice observed that while giving the contracts of these projects, PEPCO did not consider the tariff given by NEPRA.
He said PEPCO also did not consider the purchasing power of the masses. The court directed PEPCO to submit details of the electricity and its tariff purchased from these RPP’s during the last three years.
The court also directed the Ministry of Water and Power to submit within next 24 hours a detailed report over acquisition of scrap from China to establish some RPPs. The chief justice regretted that there was no policy while establishing the RPPs. He said public exchequer must be saved and no one could be given relaxation in this regard. “People are asking that you are the chief justice of Pakistan, what did you do for the poor masses,” he said.
“Was there any transparency in these projects?” the chief justice asked, noting that the Water and Power Ministry, despite knowing that these RPPs would not be able to give 100 percent production, kept on enhancing the rates of electricity and burdening the poor masses.
He said government had no policy while establishing these RPPs and the entire project was against public interest. The CJ directed NEPRA to submit a detailed report over it.
