Supreme Court disposes of case: NAB asked to recover $120 million from Karkey

Disposing of the case, the Supreme Court on Monday directed National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to recover an outstanding amount of $120 million from Karkey Rental Power Plant. A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Azmat Saeed was hearing the case of non-implementation of Supreme Court judgement on Rental Power Projects (RPPs).
The apex court categorically told the NAB that if the ship managed to leave Pakistani waters without clearing the outstanding dues of $120 million, the chairman NAB would be held responsible. At the onset of hearing, Shahbaz Bhatti, Director General Operations, NAB, informed the court that $120 million was outstanding against Karkey Rental Power Plant.
But Prosecutor General NAB K K Agha contended that ultimately the chairman NAB had to decide about the exact amount. The chief justice asked MNA Faisal Saleh Hayat and the NAB officials to sit down in the SC Registrar's office and calculate the amount of money that Karkey owed and inform the bench accordingly.
After the interval, Bhatti said approximately $120 million was outstanding against Karkey power project. He also informed the bench that the statement prepared by the NAB had been countersigned by its Chairman Fasih Bukhari. The court said if the amount worked out by the MNA and the NAB was found to be less than actual at a later stage, "it shall be the responsibility of the NAB chairman to recover the increased amount as well."
During the course of proceedings, Justice Chaudhary observed that Faisal Saleh Hayat had unearthed a big scam in power sector. "It will set an example for other departments to follow...the court has given its judgement," the CJP said. Besides civil liability, there is also criminal liability in the RPPs case, according to him.
Justice Gulzar remarked that according to the agreement the barge-mounted power plant was the property of Karkey in Pakistan and inquired from the PG NAB how it would get the payment of the outstanding amount once Karkey had left. Agha said they would obtain a bank guarantee from Karkey. To that, Justice Gulzar said the guarantee should be arranged inside Pakistan and not somewhere else.
The court noted that the NAB had already given an undertaking that unless the entire outstanding amount was paid, the ship would not be allowed to leave Pakistani waters. KK Agha said they had withdrawn the undertaking, adding that under section 23 of accountability law they had cautioned the Karkey management not to move the ship from Pakistan without paying the entire outstanding amount. On this note, the CJP disposed of Faisal Saleh Hayat's complaint with respect to Karkey power plant.