The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday directed NAB to arrest people involved in railways corruption within three days and ordered that the Railways Board secretary be posted back immediately. A three-member bench headed by CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry was hearing a case on state of affairs in Pakistan Railways, including non-payment of pensions and salaries to workers. The CJP said that it was the job of NAB to eliminate corruption and not to enter into plea bargain. He said that even the minister and chairman railways were being named in corruption in railways. The CJP said that NAB was arresting only poor people and people in the institution were just passing time and had no interest in service of the country. He said that if NAB had the courage to arrest influential people, it could have done so within three days.
During the hearing, the CJP inquired about the whereabouts of former additional secretary Shafikullah. The secretary railways told the SC bench that the prime minister had transferred the official on his summary. On this, the CJP ordered the secretary to bring back Shafikullah observing that officials who are willing to assist the court and NAB are transferred. Former railways minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the government transfers all those officials who highlight corruption in their department. The secretary railways informed the court that there was a dispute between the Defence Ministry and railways over 1,300 acres land. About 1,700 acres of land was encroached, he added.
The CJP questioned as to why no action was taken against those who built commercial places over railways land in Karachi. He said railways officials should resolve the matter with the cooperation of the provincial government. The officials said that operation was going on in Malir, Karachi to recover railways land. The officials said that they could not start any goods train so far due to shortage of engineers. Only 78 passenger trains were being run and 248 engines were out of order, they said.
Graft mars Pakistan Steel Mills: CJP
Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has said that all state institutions, including the Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan Railways and Pakistan International Airlines, have been ruined by corruption. During his remarks when the court resumed the hearing of the Pakistan Steel Mills case, the chief justice said the court saved Pakistan Steel Mills from privatization but it had become a victim of corruption. Counsel for the mills Fakhruddin G Ebrahim submitted the forensic audit report and told that the mills faced a loss of Rs 26 billion due to corruption and mismanagement. He said the mills chairman was arrested on corruption charges but he never spent a single day in prison, as he was immediately admitted to hospital. In his remarks, Justice Tariq said those involved in corruption were still part of Steel Mills administration. The chief justice said the court would send the case to NAB. Fakhruddin G Ebrahim agreed that it was better to send the case to NAB and “in this way we can also save finances”. Justice Khilji Arif said everybody knew what was happening in steel mills, but NAB was not paying attention to the issue. The chief justice also told the secretary production that the ministry was not taking action despite knowledge of corruption. The court sought a reply from secretary industries and production regarding forensic report within two days and adjourned the hearing until March 15.
