ISLAMABAD, Nov 7: Apparently concerned by the possibility of a rental power producer leaving Pakistan without settling a dispute over repayment of Rs22 billion, the Supreme Court ordered the National Accountability Bureau on Wednesday to submit a report on progress in recovery of the amount.

The court issued the order on a letter recently written to the chief justice by PML-Q leader and former federal minister Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ordered Additional Prosecutor General (APG) Akbar Tarar to inform the court on Thursday how the issue was being resolved.

The 232MW Turkish ship-mounted power plant, Karkay, was part of a plan approved by the government to generate about 1200MW to plug the energy shortfall through RPPs as a stopgap arrangement.

On March 30, the apex court had rescinded the RPP contracts declaring them non-transparent and ordered NAB chairman Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari to proceed with corruption references against those who were at the helm of affairs when the deals were signed between 2006 and 2008.

In his letter, Faisal Saleh Hayat claimed that the Karkay plant anchored at the Port Qasim had been allowed to leave without repaying Rs22 billion through an “underhand deal” between NAB and the Turkish firm. But APG Tarar assured the court that Karkay would not be allowed to leave Pakistani shores without paying the amount and that NAB was dealing with the firm in accordance with local laws.

The court ordered NAB to recover the amount and submit a report by Thursday on progress in criminal proceedings against the culprits involved in the scam.

DELAY IN IPPS INSTALLATION: In a related case about mysterious delay in the installation of two independent power projects (IPPs), the Supreme Court summoned Water and Power Secretary Nargis Sethi to inform it what actions the government was taking against those responsible for causing losses to the national exchequer because of the delay.

PML-N leader Khawaja Muhammad Asif, who had invited the attention of the court to the delay, claimed that investors had pulled back from the 595MW Chichunki Malian project whereas the 425MW combined cycle plant in Nandipur (Gujranwala), which had earlier been billed as the potentially cheapest power project, was rendered non-viable because of the soaring exchange rates.

Their equipment awaiting clearance for the past two years are gathering dust and rusting at the Karachi port.

The court took notice of the absence of former law minister Babar Awan and former law secretary Masood Chisti who had been summoned to answer allegations about their role in the delay.

Advocate Abbas Mirza, representing the Pakistan Electric Power Company, informed the court that the Nandipur project was still viable but blamed the law ministry for stalling the projects for two years.

The bench ordered that the water and power secretary be given the report of the Justice (retd) Rehmat Hussain Jaffery commission appointed by the apex court. The report said the national exchequer had suffered a loss of Rs130 billion because of the delay.

The court regretted that despite earlier directives no progress had been made by the government in expediting the two projects. It sought a categorical statement from the government about its intention relating to the projects, along with a timeline suggesting when the projects had to be commenced and completed.

“Prime facie we are of the opinion that the national kitty suffered considerable losses as evident from the Justice Jaffery commission report, but despite this no serious effort was ever made though the country was suffering with serious energy crisis,” the chief justice said, adding that had the projects been commenced timely, these would have been functional by now.