ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court on Thursday directed rental power companies to return the money they took in advance from the Government of Pakistan to set up power generation projects but failed to do so.
The court particularly directed Techno Power Plant to return Rs780 million it took in advance from the government of Pakistan for producing electricity but could not so far initiated the project. A three-member bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday was hearing a suo motu case for corruption in payment to Rental Power Projects (RPPs) detected by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). The court directed Techno Power Plant to ensure that the money is returned with markup in 24 hours, or else the case would be sent to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
The chief justice observed that the loot and plunder in contracting the RPPs would not be allowed. At one point Justice Ramday said “Bring this money by tomorrow (Friday) and don’t tell us stories. We are fed up with these stories”. Counsel for Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) Khawaja Tariq Raheem informed the court that one power plant set up by Yong Jen had deposited Rs1.26 billion with the government and Justice Ramday asked him to produce receipts. On the last hearing, two rental power plants Naudero-II and Guddu Power Projects had deposited Rs 2.25 billion in the bank and presented the receipts in the court. The court inquired whether there were such power companies who had taken money in advance from the government but had not yet made their projects operational. The court was informed that two rental power companies, Reshma Power Plant and Techno Power Plant, had taken money in advance but could not make their projects operational. Syed Najamul Hassan Kazmi, counsel for NEPRA, submitted that these two power companies had taken money from the government but had not yet made the projects operational. He said Rs 780 million taken in advance by Techno Power Plant were lying with Askari Commercial Bank in Blue Area, Islamabad.
The court directed the Techno Power (Sahuwal) chief executive officer and Askari Bank Blue Area Islamabad manager to appear before the court along with record of loan granted to Techno Power Sahuwal on January 14. Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, counsel for Reshma Power Plant submitted that the plant having capacity of producing 201 megawatts of electricity had started generating electricity.
