That Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) suffers a huge loss running into billions of rupees was all the more reason for the Supreme Court to put the Secretary Industries in the dock for not taking action against those found guilty of financial mismanagement and corrupt practices.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry sought explanation from the ministry on Tuesday why it had ignored the forensic audit report which had identified cumulative losses of Rs 26.5 billion suffered by the PSM in a single year. The report kept gathering dust since it was submitted to the ministry six months ago.
The court appeared dissatisfied with the Secretary Industries’ response that his ministry was contemplating referring the matter to the National Accountability Bureau for initiating investigation against the persons who have already been charge-sheeted. Going through the voluminous report which only pertained to the financial year 2008-09 the court expressed shock that it was not known how much loss the Mills had suffered till now.
PSM’s Counsel Fakhruddin G Ibrahim informed the bench that the present financial and operational position of the Steel Mills had been far from satisfactory as the losses continued to mount due to over-staffing, non-availability of funds for the purchase of raw material and inability to open letters of credit. He was of the opinion that there was a possibility of the recovery of some amount if the NAB investigated this matter with sincerity.
There’s no disputing the CJ’s assertion that it was the Supreme Court which had earlier saved the state-owned entity from privatisation. After that, it was the responsibility of the government and the concerned ministry to take appropriate measures to plug the loopholes causing huge losses to the Steel Mills and other public sector enterprises but unfortunately it was never done. Now that the apex court has taken suo motu cognizance of the matter, it needs to be extended all the help it requires to get to the bottom of the problem.
