Sultan M Hali
The Nawaz Sharif government is in the dock on various charges of corruption. The hottest case under judicial microscope is the Panama scandal involving money laundering through off shore companies. In the past too references against the Sharif brothers have been submitted by their political opponents. In 2012, the then government of Pakistan People’s Party and its Interior Minister Rehman Malik submitted a case of money laundering to the tune of US $ 32 million.It is to the good luck of the Sharifs that to date none of the charges of corruption have been proved, owing to lack of evidence. Whether the Panama Scandal will result in the guilty verdict or not, time will tell. The case and the money trail is being diligently followed but there are a number of gray areas too, which may get the Sharif family the benefit of doubt. No Pakistani sitting government in the past has been convicted of financial wrong doings. Records mysteriously disappear, get destroyed or are tarnished, with no apportion of blame. Take the case of the scandals in Nandipur Power Project, which is a 425 MW (with potential of 1,000 MW) combined cycle thermal power plant situated at Nandipur near Gujranwala in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It was constructed by the China Dongfang Electric Corporation and was completed in March 2015. The estimated cost of the project was Rs. 23 billion ($574 million) when it was announced, which according to the government of Mian Nawaz Sharif, escalated to Rs. 57.38 billion due to alleged delay and negligence of the previous Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government. Unfortunately, according to some sources, after the PML-N government took over the project, actual cost reached up to Rs. 84 billion. Myriad reasons are attributed to the cost escalation. In January 2008, Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) signed a Rs. 23 billion ($329 million) contract with Dong Fang of China to construct the Nandipur Power Project and paid it a 10 per cent down payment. By mid-2010, much of the work at this power project was complete and it was expected to be completed on schedule in April 2011. However, the project suffered delays as the summary; sent by the Ministry of Water and Power for legal opinion of the Ministry of Law & Justice, remained pending with the latter for two years from March 2010 to March 2012 (perhaps requisite palms had not been greased). As a result, machinery worth $85 million remained stuck at the Karachi Port for over two years. In September 2012, Dongfang Electric Corporation terminated the contract for the construction of the Nandipur power project; because the company had suffered colossal losses owing to machinery worth $85 million had been awaiting clearance at the Karachi Port. The company also demanded $40 million as compensation for losses suffered because of depreciation and damages on machinery stranded at the port.In June 2013, Pakistan’s Ministry of Water and Power started renegotiating the contract with Dongfang Electric Corporation to resume work on the Nandipur Power Project. After days of negotiations, the firm agreed to resume work on the power station. On July 8, 2013, engineers of Dongfang Electric Corporation arrived in Karachi to inspect the machinery lying at the Karachi Port and secure its release. Later, work on the project was restarted. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the first turbine of the project on 31 May 2014. But the plant remained operational for only five days after the inauguration and had to be shut down due to mismanagement and use of inappropriate fuel. Later in July 2015 it was reported that the plant was once again functional and producing the contractual output of 425 MW.The case of misappropriation and use of unsuitable fuel has been under investigation but again providence stepped in. On the night between 6 and 7 September 2016, an unknown individual broke into the office of Captain (R) Mehtab (Security Officer of Nandipur Power Project) and destroyed records pertaining to the purchase of furnace oil. The apprehended culprit Bilqias Khan (guard with Captain Mehtab) gave a statement that the record was destroyed on direction of Captain (R) Mehtab.In February 2016, the issue of misappropriation in purchase of furnace oil was brought to light for which an inquiry conducted by GENCO-III recommended audit of complete record from November 2014 to date. This report was submitted a day prior to the fire incident. Presently another inquiry is being held to probe into complete record of furnace oil purchases from start of the project by Mr. Mujeeb (Senior Engineer GENCO-III Muzaffargarh). CIA Gujranwala has also submitted a report to the court regarding destruction of the record and has accused Bilqias Khan for destruction of the record. The accused has however been bailed out by the court. On 25 September 2016, a team of NAB Lahore visited Gujranwala to inquire into corruption and destruction of the record, however, exact scope or outcome of the inquiry is not known. Nandipur administration is not confirming the visit of the NAB team. It is suspected that they may be doing a cover-up as they have directed police not to touch corruption aspect of Nandipur Power Project as NAB is itself handling the case. A writ petition has also been filed against corruption in Nandipur power project at Session Court Gujranwala by Manzoor Qadir Bhinder, Advocate. Only two hearings of the case have so far been held without worthwhile progress as the petitioner is out of country. Security in-charge Captain (R) Mehtab Alam was removed from his post after the records were burnt mysteriously. A case has been registered against ‘unknown persons’ regarding the incident. The incident, when it came into the officials’ knowledge next morning, caused panic among the staff of the power project which was deemed as secured. Officials of intelligence agencies, Rangers, police and Elite Force are posted at the project to ensure foolproof security. It is considered impossible for a layman to trespass such high-level security. Even VIPs have restricted access to certain portions of the project.Yet despite the stringent security measures, the culprits destroyed the evidence pertaining to the multi million dollars scam. This incident only goes to show, to what extent officials will go to destroy evidence that may incriminate them. So help us God if we are looking for justice in the Panama scandal or any other case involving bigwigs.
