News
Friday, April 06, 2012
SC accepts plea on Thar coal fundingStaff Report
ISLAMABAD: A petition seeking release of funds by federal and provincial governments for development of coal at Tharparkar has been accepted for hearing by the Supreme Court (SC).
A two-member SC bench consisting of Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Justice Muhammad Ather Saeed accepted the petition by the Wattan Party and others after they removed objections raised by the court’s Registrar Office.
Barrister Zafarullah Khan, the petitioner, told the SC that the court was the “proper forum” to seek remedy in the instant matter. He said that growing energy demand in the country could be addressed if national resources such as Thar coal were utilised properly.
Khan also said there were complicated issues in enforcing a uniform price of electricity throughout Pakistan.
“Uniform pricing is largely an off-shoot of subsidy so there is need to look into 18th Amendment itself for some adjustments such as possible sharing formula for corporate taxation from mineral and oil and gas sectors,” the barrister said.
At the last hearing, Barrister Khan had requested the court to stop the federal government from entering into any deal to purchase electricity from India.
He reiterated his stance on Thursday, saying it would “not be a good omen for Pakistan to purchase electricity from India”. He said that India was generating up to 12,000MW of power from “illegally constructed” dams on western rivers (Indus, Jhelum and Chenab).
Pakistan reportedly has accepted an Indian offer of 5,000MW to meet its energy shortfall on an emergency basis. The offer was made by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a brief chat with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in Seoul, South Korea.
Instead of depending on others, the petitioner said, Thar coal project in Sindh should be funded by both federal and provincial governments.
After removing objections raised by the SC’s Registrar Office, the bench adjourned hearing of the case for an indefinite period.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk