News
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
NAB initiates action over RPPs scam* Names of 19 officials including three former federal ministers, put on ECL
* Four federal secretaries also in the list
* NAB cautions against transfer of properties of 12 RPPs
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau, following the direction of the Supreme Court, on Monday put the names of 19 top officials on the Exit Control List, who were allegedly involved in the Rental Power Projects scandal.
The names of those included in the list are former federal ministers, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Liaqat Ali Khan Jatoi, Tariq Hamid and Shaukat Tareen; former water and power secretaries Shahid Rafi, Muhammad Ismail Qureshi and Ishfaq Mehmood; former finance secretary Salman Siddique; former NEPRA chairmen Khalid Saeed, Lt Gen (r) Saeeduz Zafar; GENCO CEO Yousaf Ali, former PPIB managing directors Khalid Irfan Rahman, Fayyaz Elahi and Yousaf Memon, former PEPCO managing directors Tahir Basharat Cheema and Munawar Baseer Ahmad; PEPCO CEOs Muhammad Arif Saleem, Fazal Ahmad Khan and Chaudhry Muhammad Anwar.
The properties of 12 RPPs had been cautioned against transfer and action will follow their seizure. The RPPs includes:
Techno-E Power and Young Generation, Faisalabad; Techno-E-Power, Sialkot; Pakistan Power Resources (PPR) Guddu; Karodeniz Turkish Ship, Karachi; Gulf Rental, Gujranwala; Reshma Power, Lahore; Walters Power International (I) and Walters Power International (II), Larkana; Alstome, Sheikhupura, General Electric Power Shariqpur and Pakistan Power Resources, Multan.
On Friday, the Supreme Court had declared all the RPPs unlawful and ordered legal proceedings against former water and power minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.
A 90-page verdict, authored by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, read that the federal government /WAPDA/PEPCO/GENCO had failed to control pilferage of electricity from the system.
“All the government functionaries, including the ministers for water and power-holding charge in 2006 and onward and from 2008 to onward, during whose tenure the RPPs were approved/set up and minister as well as finance secretary holding the charge when the down payment was increased from seven percent to 14 percent, prima facie, violated the principle of transparency under articles 9 and 24 of the constitution and Section 7 of the Act 1997, therefore, their involvement in getting financial benefits out of RPPs by indulging in corruption and corrupt practices cannot be overruled. Consequently, they are liable to be dealt with under the NAB Ordinance 1999 by the NAB,” the judgement said. app/staff report
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk