LAHORE: Though the Supreme Court remanded nearly 1,200 cases regarding fuel adjustment charges to the appellate tribunal, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s appellate tribunal is facing various issues, including non-completion of its strength and low salary packages of its chairman and members. The situation is causing disappointment among the members and the tribunal may find it impossible to deal with the great number of cases remanded by the apex court.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, on Oct 16, had directed Nepra appellate tribunal to fix for hearing all the appeals related to fuel adjustment charges on Nov 13 or any other date.

On the other hand, the Nepra tribunal registrar wrote a letter to the Ministry of Law on Oct 20, highlighting the sorry state of affairs in the appellate tribunal and requested it to complete the quorum of the tribunal besides revision of the pay package of the chairman and members.

“The process for hiring the tribunal members was done in haste by the law ministry after the Islamabad High Court observed that the burden of litigation about power and energy cases, including those related to fuel price adjustment, is increasing the backlog of cases in the courts,” explains an official source. He says the salary package was verbally agreed with a commitment on the part of the ministry to be more than or at least equal to their last drawn salaries. But, the promise was not fulfilled, he adds.

Tribunal faces challenge of 1,200 cases remanded by SC

According to him, the member (electrical) also had written a letter to the ministry of law on June 3, expressing his reservations about the salary package soon after he assumed the charge as member. He says that currently, the tribunal chairman is drawing his pay package against the service laws established under the various celebrated judgments of the superior courts. Same is the case of the member electrical who is currently drawing a salary even much less that his last drawn salary in the Punjab Power Development Board.

While referring to the judgment of the CJ, the registrar of the tribunal, in his letter of Oct 21, pointed out that fresh appeals before the appellate tribunal are increasing day by day, in addition to the 160 already pending appeals.

“Due to lack of quorum, decisions of these appeals within the statutory period (90 days) given in section 12G of the Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power Act, 1997 (power act), or within in a short time frame fixed by the constitutional court seems impossible. It is, therefore, requested that posting of 3rd member (finance) may be expedited,” the letter seeks.

However, the source says that no one from the finance sector, having the required eligibility, is willing to join the Nepra appellate tribunal on the currently offered salary package by the ministry of law, and in this way, the tribunal may become dysfunctional leading to increase in the burden of litigation to the high and supreme courts.

“Another important issue regarding pay and package of the chairman and the members of the tribunal mentioned in earlier letters, which are pending since long. As per provisions of Power Act, the Federal Government is under obligation to provide sufficient funds to make the tribunal a success,” the letter mentions.

“It is mandatory to strengthen the tribunal, otherwise, we may even lose the present strength of the tribunal, resulting in serious crises and losing confidence of various stakeholders, more particularly the consumers,” it concludes.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2023