Placing regulators under line ministries: opposition senators slam government

The opposition lawmakers in Senate on Wednesday came down hard on the government for bringing five regulatory bodies under the line ministries, declaring it a violation of Constitution as Council of Common Interest (CCI) was not consulted before making the decision. Speaking over a recent decision by the government that brought 5 regulatory authorities under the line ministries, for which the chairman Senate had sought explanation from the government, the senators plainly stated that the notification must be withdrawn; otherwise they would move the court in this regard.
Minister for Law and Justice, Zahid Hamid said that there is nothing out of ordinary, as the regulatory bodies were brought under different ministries from time to time, and most recently it was done by Pakistan People's Party (PPP) government in April 2011. But the lengthy explanation given by the law minister did not help convince Chairman Senate Rabbani, who insisted that it could not be done through a notification which is quite clear in Article 154 of Federal Legislative List, Part 2.
He also said that it was included in the agenda of last CCI meeting but after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa took exception to it, the item was dropped from the agenda, and decision was made by the prime minister through a notification which is in no way acceptable.
The law minister accepted that it was included in the CCI agenda, and the only justification with him was that it was nothing new as successive government had been placing the regulatory bodies under different ministries. Senator Farhatullah Babar of PPP said that out of the five regulatory bodies notified to be transferred to line ministries, 4 are decoys so that the transfer of Nepra to the Ministry of Water and Power did not attract due public attention and scrutiny.
He said that the government wanted to bring Nepra under its heels because of the regulatory body's refusal to allow the unrealistically high tariff demanded by a solar power producer.
The solar producer demanded a tariff of Rs 14 per unit which the regulator refused; thereby, annoying the powerful solar power producer and its backers, he said, adding the record showed that the targeting of Nepra started ever since the solar tariff issue came into the open.
"PTA, OGRA, PPRA and Frequency Allocation Board also transferred to line ministries serve as decoys for Nepra," he added. Opposition Leader in Senate Aitzaz Ahsan said that bringing the regulatory bodies under the lines ministries means 'poachers turned game keepers', adding it is clear-cut violation of the constitution.