Former Pakistan Indus Waters (PCIW) commissioner Syed Jamait Ali Shah was exonerated from damaging national interests, which he was accused of due to his inability to stop India from constructing the Nimoo Bazgo hydroelectric project on River Indus in Leh District of Indian Occupied Kashmir.
According to the inquiry committee report, “Syed Jamait Ali Shah performed his duties in an appropriate manner and as such no loss of national interests was attributed to him. Perusal of correspondence between the two commissioners and the process followed during the course of time, the responsibility of delay can be attributed to India’s delayed response.
“The commissioner discharged his duties in line with his mandate and under the relevant provisions of the treaty. Nevertheless as an important stakeholder he along with his team and other stakeholders should have pursued the case more vigorously.”
It is important to mention here that the Ministry of Water and Power (MWP) had constituted a three-member inquiry committee headed by Syed Raghib Abbas, then Member WAPDA, and included Federal Flood Commission Chairman Asjad Imtiaz Ali and NESPAK MD Asad I. Khan on January 31, 2012. The report of the committee was submitted on October 10, 2012.
The committee recommended that in order to improve the quality of decision making in water disputes with India there is a need to formulation a dedicated Expert Review Cell, comprising officials from concerned ministries of MWP, Foreign Affairs, Law and Defence with co-opted technical and legal experts. The cell should provide guidelines for decision making keeping in view the overall interest of the country.
Syed Jamait Ali Shah held the post of commissioner since October 1993 and retained it until December 15, 2010 when he was made an OSD (Officer on Special Duty). He remained commissioner for 18 years, the longest term by any commissioner after signing the treaty. He was the most experienced commissioner in the Permanent Indus Commission and represented Pakistan 29 times in the commission’s meetings.
The report says that MWP received reports of gross negligence, inefficiency and malafide on part of the commissioner in connection with the Nimoo Bazgo dam on River Indus in Indian Occupied Kashmir. He was accused of not taking up the matter with India in a timely manner, and not pursuing it proactively and persistently. He ignored the implications of the highly sensitive matter. His could have invoked relevant clauses of the Indus Water Treaty 1960 with Neutral Experts or Court of Arbitration (NE/CoA) in a timely manner and restrained India from implementing the project.
Secretary WAPDA Imtiaz Tajwar was appointed Inquiry Officer in April 2011 to probe the matter. The findings established that gross negligence was committed by the former PCIW for not taking action to safe guard Pakistan’s interest. Due to his casual attitude, India was able to construct Nimoo Bazgo dam.
The findings said the information about Nimoo Bazgo dam was received in 2002 and PCIW asked Indian Commission to provide information of the project on November 16, 2002. The subsequent letters were written in 2002 and 2004. These letters indicated PCIW knew of the issue and could have approached the authorities for resolution of the case through NE/CoA at that stage. However, that initiative was not availed and opportunity was missed.
Military Intelligence as well as the ISI shared the information about the project in June 2005. PCIW did not raise any objection with the ICIW. Due to lack of proper contest, India not only completed the project but also further gained the carbon credits benefits.
In March 2007, Pakistan raised serious objections on the design of the project after receiving information from India but until May 2009, only three reminders were issued to the Indian Commissioner. During this period, three meetings of Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) were held but PCIW never asked the Indian commissioner about the reply from the Indian side on the Nimoo Bazgo or the carbon credits. It was quite surprising that the issue of Nimoo Bazgo was discussed in 103th meeting of the commission. In addition, from the record it is evident that the Indian side did not accept Pakistan’s objections and gave a stereotypical response to Pakistan’s objection.
Syed Jamait Ali Shah’s insisted on taking up the issue at the level of NE/CoA after the completion of the project. Considering the number of years required under the due procedure to approach the NE/CoA, this move was quite surprising, the report said, adding that PCIW should have been far more professional and pro-active.
Meanwhile, Syed Jamait Ali Shah retired from service upon reaching age of superannuation on October 01, 2010. Since the officer retired from service, the E&D Rules 1973 were no more applicable on him; therefore, the case was forwarded to Establishment Division for their opinion. The Establishment Division responded that the disciplinary proceedings initiated against government servant stand abated on attaining the age of superannuation.
It asked the MWP to examine the matter in light of fact finding report to see whether there was some criminal liability on the part of officer concerned and if found then proceed under the relevant criminal law through appropriate judicial process.
The MWP constituted a three-member inquiry committee headed by Syed Raghib Abbas, then Member WAPDA, and included Chairman Federal Flood Commission Asjad Imtiaz Ali and MD NESPAK Asad I. Khan on January 31, 2012.
The report of the committee was submitted on October 10, 2012. It found Syed Jamait Ali Shah performed his duties in an appropriate manner and as such, no loss of national interests was attributed to him. It is obvious that if Pakistan makes best efforts but India does not cooperate in the process, as it happened in the case of Nimoo Bazgo, the matter of taking the case to NE/CoA would be delayed.
Perusal of correspondence between the two commissioners and the process followed during the course of time, the responsibility of delay can be attributed to India’s delayed response. The commissioner discharged his duties in line with his mandate and under the relevant provisions of the treaty. Nevertheless, as an important stakeholder he along with his team and other stakeholders should have pursued the case more vigorously.
It says no significant loss would be caused to national interest of Pakistan by construction of Nimoo Bazgo hydroelectric project. The question of carbon credits needs to be posed to the concerned ministry (Environment) as there was no information available with the PCIW.
The Establishment Division had advised the MWP in December 2011 to seek opinion from Finance Division with regard to withholding or releasing of Syed Jamait Ali Shah pension. Finance Division referred the matter to the Law Division, which mentioned on July 13, 2012 CSR 417-A “If an officer has been suspended pending inquiry into his conduct attains the age of superannuation before the completion of the inquiry, the disciplinary proceedings against shall abate and such officer shall retire with full pension benefits and the period of suspension shall be treated as period spent on duty.”
The MWP conveyed to Ministry of Interior that the inquiry committee unanimously found that ex-PCIW performed his duties in an appropriate manner and as such, no loss to national interests was attributed to him. As the inquiry committee could not establish any criminal liability against Syed Jamait Ali Shah and in view of advice of Law Division, MWP signed pension papers on December 24, 2012.
