Rental Power Projects: Raja Ashraf asked to argue before Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed former minister for water and power Raja Pervez Ashraf to appear before the court and respond to corruption charges in relation to the award of Rental Power Projects (RPPs) during his tenure.
The court also directed Pepco to submit a comprehensive report as per earlier direction of the SC, specifying names of parties who received dollars and Pakistani currency against RPPs plants, generation capacity of existing RPPs and their Commercial Operation Date (COD) and cost of per unit for consumer on next day of hearing.
A two-member bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain was hearing two identical petitions filed by federal minister Faisal Saleh Hayat and PML-N MNA Khawaja Asif alleging corruption in the RPPs contract. "Transparency of awarding RPPs contracts was in question," the CJP remarked while addressing additional Secretary WAPDA who apprised the bench that Raja Pervez Ashraf wanted to appear before the bench by next date of hearing. In the daylong hearing, Faisal Saleh Hayat, Pepco counsel Khawaja Tariq Rahim and Karkey''s lawyer Akram Sheikh appeared before the bench.
Faisal Saleh Hayat said Pepco and PPIB were involved in bidding of RPPs, adding that drastic violation of rules was witnessed in the contracts as Nepra authorities expressed thorough admission on November 26, 2009 that Naudero-1 which is 23 years old plant and was operational for 146644 hours. He said according to Nepra rules, plants could be installed, which are not older than 10 years or remained operational less than 60000 hours.
He informed the bench that Rs 52 per unit was the cost of electricity transmitted from Naudero-1. Faisal apprised the court that Rs 25 billion were extended by the banks and DFIs which he claimed were under immense pressure from the Ministry of Finance to provide mobilisation advance financing to RPPs as Aftab Manzoor Chairman Bankers Association has expressed in his statement during July 2009.
The Chief Justice observed that the matter is very much in court notice, adding that now the bench has to decide whether RPPs contracts were awarded in a transparent manner or not. In case of non-transparency, he said, the court will give its verdict on merit. The CJP appreciated Faisal Saleh Hayat, saying it was the first case in the history of Pakistan that part of the Cabinet challenged to his own government.
PML- N leader Khawaja Muhammad Asif contended before the bench that the RPPs have turned out to be one of the biggest scams in Pakistan''s history, confirming the criminal negligence of the government in bypassing cheaper and more viable options thereby grossly abusing the policy making prerogative of the executive branch of the government.
He pleaded that acute power crisis was paralysing cities, towns and villages and termed it as colossal failure of the government. He said the effects of load shedding have spread far beyond the economy, as it tears into the social fabric and the daily routine of 20 million Pakistani households unrelentingly each and every day and night.
Khawaja Asif submitted that the different estimates of the economic losses caused by energy crisis are fairly similar in magnitude- around 3 percent GDP per annum. Adjusting for the estimated size of the undocumented economy, the total economic loss is closer to 4 per cent of the GDP a year or roughly a staggering Rs 800 billion every year.
Asif submitted that it is admitted position of the Federal Government that the RPPs currently functioning are producing less than 200 MW of electric power whereas their total installed capacity was more than 400MW. He said the RPPs in the country have either not been commissioned or if commissioned don''t have the capacity or potential or operate at optimum levels of production capacity.
He said cumulative losses to the economy in terms of foregone value addition since 2008 amount to a colossal Rs 3 trillion. If translated into lost jobs and employment opportunity, the impact of the above amounts to 4.1 million jobs, roughly 7.5 per cent of our labour force.
He said almost 46 per cent of electricity is being generated by power plants based on Residual Fuel Oil (RFO) which is highest in the world, adding that India produces 69 per cent of its electricity from plants based on coal. He said gas wells capable of producing 500 MW are presently capped in different parts of the country because of litigation, adding that at the time when RPPs were being sanctioned, the idle installed capacity was approximately 1500 MW and the money which was being invested in RPPs, if diverted to the public sector generation plants with the miserable efficiency of 15 per cent approximate, the government could upgrade the facility at Jamshoro, Faisalabad and Multan, etc.
Khawaja Asif submitted that the government was involve in corruption and just wanted to make whatever is possible for them, adding that government was never been serious to control the corruption and will never try to remove this cancer. Karkey counsel Akram Sheikh''s arguments remained incomplete due to paucity of time. The hearing was adjourned till October 31.