News
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
SC to lay down principles for utilisation of funds by MPs* Court says PM not a monarch who has liberty to spend money on his sweet will
* Reserves judgement in case about doling out of billions of rupees by ex-PM Raja
By Hasnaat Malik
ISLAMABAD: Reserving its judgement in the suo motu case about the doling out of over Rs 47 billion discretionary development funds by former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, the Supreme Court has announced it would lay down principles for future utilisation of development funds by the legislators.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, has also ordered the government to proceed against the persons responsible for approving non-transparent schemes. The bench, however, allowed the executing agencies to pay the money to all those contractors who undertook different schemes through a transparent manner and after submitting due feasibility reports. Justice Iftikhar remarked the prime minister is not a monarch that he is at liberty to spend whatever he wills.
“However, in the meantime all executing authorities of the schemes initiated out of PWP-II allocated funds are diverted to undertake an exercise and examine across the board of all schemes to ascertain whether PPRA rules have been followed strictly and the development works were assigned to contractors in a transparent manner,” the bench noted.
The court further ordered that funds be released to all the schemes which were initiated in a transparent manner and whose contracts were given following due procedure and in which development works had been completed to some extent. As far as the remaining work is concerned, the court directed the government to examine as to whether it is in the public interest and feasible to continue execution of the said schemes.
“If such schemes are found not to be in the public interest or feasible, the same shall be abandoned subject to the approval of the competent authority i.e. on whose behalf the schemes were initiated; and the funds so made available shall be deposited with the public exchequer. The said competent authority shall also examine the possibility of proceeding further against such persons or agencies who had allowed the execution of the works/schemes contrary to the PPRA rules, proper feasibilities or without following a transparent manner,” it added.
Appearing on behalf of seven contractors undertaking 12 different development schemes in Gujar Khan, Tariq Mahmood argued that his clients obtained the contracts after participating in the pre-qualification bids and following a transparent process and they had nothing to do with how and from where the funds were allocated to them.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk