ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a notice to the Secretary Finance regarding the non-issuance of sovereign guarantee for Nandipur Power Project, which delayed its completion.
The notice was issued by the three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Justice Gulzar Ahmed during the hearing of a petition submitted by Khawaja Muhammad Asif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
The court noted that the project, which commenced in 2008, was due to be completed in April 2011 but it was still in limbo.
The bench was apprised that already billions of rupees had been spent on the 450 Mega Watt power project which could not be completed due to the lethargic behaviour of the Ministry of Finance.
During the course of proceedings, Khawaja Asif told the bench that the machinery worth millions of rupees, which arrived at the Karachi Port Trust about two years back, was being rotted due to the cold behaviour of certain departments.
Asif contended that he filed the petition in 2011 and since then no step had been taken on this issue of national interest.
An official of the project apprised the court that they had written several times to the ministries of Law and Finance for the issuance of sovereign guarantee by the government to clear the machinery from the port but in vain.
The bench, while expressing its annoyance, issued a notice to the Secretary Finance directing him to appear before it and state the government's viewpoint on the issue.
Later the court adjourned hearing of the case till May 28.
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