SC issues show-cause notice to NAB chief in RPPs case
15 September, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Expressing annoyance over the National Accountability Bureau's failure to arrest those involved in awarding the RPP contracts, a three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, on Friday issued show-cause notices to the NAB chairman and seven other officers. The NAB chairman and other officers were asked to appear before the court and explain why the contempt proceedings may not be initiated against them for non-implementing the court's judgment. "The reply to the show-cause notice shall be submitted within seven days. The case shall be relisted on September 25, 2012," a two-page order said. The court said on March 30, 2012, a detailed judgement was passed in the RPPs case wherein the alleged corruption in rental power plants contracts was highlighted in its different paras. "In paragraphs 25 and 27 as well as in the concluding paragraph of the judgement, corruption and corrupt practices had been specifically mentioned as well as criminal actions on the part of the persons who had taken the benefits," it said. In the detailed judgement on RPPs, declaring all Rental Power Projects (RPPs) illegal, the court ordered their immediate shutdown and directed the NAB chairman to proceed against "ministers for water and power (including Raja Pervez Ashraf) holding charge in 2006 and onward and from 2008 onward, during whose tenure the RPPs were approved and set up and minister as well as secretary finance were holding the charge when the down payment was increased from 7 percent to 14 percent". Commenting on the slow progress in implementation of the judgement, the chief justice said, "The NAB chairman shall be responsible if the officers responsible for delaying the implementation of this court's judgement are gone out of country or take any other evasive measures." The chief justice said that in fact, the judgement itself spoke about the misappropriation made by the concerned authorities. Despite specific directions for implementing the judgement in letter and spirit, the NAB authorities had intentionally avoided to implement the same which was a clear violation of directions and observations of the court and thereby prima facie committed contempt of court as envisaged under Article 204 of the constitution read with Section 3 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance, 2003, the court said. During the course of hearing, NAB Additional Deputy Prosecutor General Fauzi Kazmi submitted a report pertaining to implementation of court's order in the case and reiterated that no arrests had been made yet because NAB was "plea bargaining" with the accused. Upon the query by the bench, Fauzi Kazmi informed the court that Muhammad Rafi, Amir Shaid, Asghar Khan and Kamran Faisal were the probing officers in the case. End.
|
