The Supreme Court on Wednesday froze the sell-off process of Pakistan Steel Mills up to June 15, and instructed its Chairman to continue its smooth functioning till further orders.
A nine-member Full Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary, Justice Rana Bhagwandas, Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Tasaduq Hussain Jilani, Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, Justice Hamid Ali Mirza and Justice Karamat Nazir Bhandari passed these orders on a petition filed by Watan Party President Hashim Shaukat Khan against the privatisation of 'strategic asset' PSM "and that too at a much lower price than its market value".
The consortium of successful bidders has paid 25 percent of the bid price of Steel Mills, and balance amount was to be paid on or before May 30, 2006, when the possession of the PSM was to be handed over to the buyers.
Country's top legal brains and luminaries like Sharifuddin Peerzada, Wasim Sajjad, and Khalid Anwar represented Privatisation Commission, Chairman Pakistan Steel Mills, and the Consortium of bidders, respectively, while Attorney General Makhdoom Ali Khan represented the Federation of Pakistan, all of which have been made respondents in the constitutional petition.
The Court also allowed the PSM workers' unions to file their petition, and instructed the court staff to address Mujib Peerzada as their counsel .
Wasim Sajjad, Khalid Anwar and Sharifuddin Peerzada submitted that they had recently been engaged by the respective respondents. Therefore, they needed some time to prepare their briefs. However, they assured the Court that further process of PSM privatisation would be frozen till final orders of the Court.
The Court asked Wasim Sajjad to reply why the PSM had been sold for about Rs 21.68 billion whereas the market value of its 4,527 acres land was stated to be more than Rs 20 billion.
On this the counsel replied that 4,524 acres land of PSM was not meant for commercial plazas or plots. Therefore, its market value could not be assessed on that account. However, he said that he would submit a report of the consultants on privatisation on the next hearing.
The Court also asked the government to submit its reply why strategic assets for the national economy and defence were not being retained in the public sector under government control.
On a query of the Court, the PSM Chairman, Abdul Qaiyum, submitted that PSM had issued cheques for Rs 7.7 billion to pay for its bank loans, which would be cleared after receipt of remaining 75 percent amount of the bid from the buyers.
On this, the Chief Justice remarked that it meant that after clearance of bank loans and other liabilities, the country would get only around Rs 12 billion through privatisation of PSM.
The Chief Justice also asked PSM Chairman whether he had some reservations about the privatisation of the Steel Mill and that he had written a letter to the President and the Prime Minister in this regard. To this he replied in the affirmative, but added that it was a confidential letter.
On this the Chief Justice observed that "Nothing is confidential from the Supreme Court of Pakistan", and he must place this letter before the Court on the next hearing of the petition. "If need be, the Court can hold in-camera proceedings", the Court observed.
Earlier, the petitioner's counsel, Barrister Zafarullah Khan, argued that the process of privatisation of PSM was not transparent, as it has been sold at a very low price of $362 million, which included machinery (plant), 4547 acres land, along with huge buildings, metalled roads, and other infrastructure whereas this strategic project was earning an annual profit of Rs 6.7 billion.
Adjourning the case till May 30, the Court advised the counsel to come prepared to argue their cases as this important matter could not be postponed for a long time.
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