A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday resumed hearing of a suo motu case regarding alleged corruption in award of contracts for RPPs.
According to the Chief Justice, if the contracts of RPPs were not awarded in a transparent manner, those responsible for it should be brought to fore. The Chief Justice also said that protection of taxpayers' money is responsibility of the state, as Article-9 of the constitution guarantees protection of life and property of every citizen.
Justice Ramday observed that those, who plunder national wealth, multiply their assets at a brisk pace while ordinary citizens are unable to make their both ends meet. The bench asked the counsel how the government awarded contracts without observing bidding process and took a decision to set up RPPs by ignoring policy standards. It also asked how power generation target of 200MW through RPPs as decided in a Cabinet meeting on March 27, 2008 raised to 438MW.
Chief Justice asked Khawja Tariq Rahim, the counsel for water and power ministry, to apprise the court about the person who suggested the establishment of RPPs to overcome load shedding in the country. In 2006, Justice Chaudhry recalled, the policy was termed a policy not applicable.
The bench said that it is court, which is bound to ensure implementation of fundamental rights under the constitution, whatever may be the consequences. The counsel for the ministry told the court there were so many wrong statements and even change of record on the part of petitioners. According to him, allegations about creation of space for setting up rental power plants are also baseless.
The counsel apprised the bench that the RPPs were started in 2006 when bids were invited. According to him, no genuine contractor came forward, due to which only unsolicited companies were awarded the projects, but the projects, being gas-propelled, faced closure.
He went on saying that when the government started RPPs, there was a power shortfall of 4,000MW but the demand kept on increasing by 8 percent with each passing year. A cabinet meeting, he informed the bench, was held on March 27, 2008 to consider the generation of 2,200MW power through two packages, ie, 1,000MW through independent power producers (IPPs) and 1200MW through RPPs.
He said that RPPs were primarily meant for Karachi, which faced an acute power shortfall. To a question by Justice Ramday, he said that a representative of National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) was present during the cabinet meeting.
He said the tariff could have been determined after the receipt of bids. Justice Ramday questioned how it was possible that the summary was moved by the concerned secretary on May 11, 2008 and it was approved on May 14. The counsel said that advertisements were floated in the national and international press on May 17, 2008. He submitted the record of the same documents. Justice Ramday warned the counsel that he must come to the court fully prepared along with proper evidence as the accusations were of serious nature and show mala fide intentions about the RPPs contracts.
Khawja Asif, a PML-N parliamentarian, appeared as party to the case and stated that in 2008, $90 million contracts were awarded to four companies while a $50 million contract to a company (Yang Jang) alone for the purchase of land. He alleged that a contract amounting to $140 million was again given in 2009 for three projects to generate 490MW electricity. He said Rashma Power Plant was awarded a $50 million contract in advance but the company has acquired only nine engines which are still not functional.