ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Tuesday discharged former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and several others in multiple references filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) relating to the rental power projects.
Announcing the verdict on three NAB references relating to the rental power projects, accountability court judge Ali Warraich discharged Ashraf and several others from Sharaqpur, Bhakki and Karkey references.
The Karkey Ship reference had estimated a corruption of Rs22 billion, whereas the Karkey company had also filed a claim of Rs200 billion against Pakistan. However, the PPP leader and 11 others have been discharged from the case.
Meanwhile, in the Sheikhupura reference relating to the Bhakki powerplant — project costing Rs96 billion — the former Wapda chairman and six others have been discharged by the accountability court along with those named in the Sharaqpur power reference.
This is not the first corruption reference relating to the rental power projects that the former premier has been discharged from, as previously he was exonerated in the Pira Ghaib rental power plant back in 2020.
Karkey rental power project
The Karkey Karadeniz Elektrik Uretin (KKEU) was one of 12 rental power companies that had been awarded contracts by the PPP government in 2008-09 to “resolve” the power crisis.
The company failed to provide the required electricity, and then it moved the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) which imposed a $1.2 billion penalty on Pakistan in 2017, which is now amicably resolved.
Due to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s intervention, the fine worth $1.20 billion imposed on Pakistan was waived.
The PPP government had entered into an agreement with Turkey to provide electricity in 2009 and awarded the contract to nine RPP firms (both local and international) for the purpose.
The Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco), working under the Ministry of Power and Water, signed a contract worth $564.6 million with a Turkish company, “Karkey”.
Under the agreement, a rental power project was installed in Karachi to supply 231 megawatts of electricity to PEPCO. However, the rental project failed to do so, given the fact that electricity was turning out to be costly to the country, as the government had to pay $9.4 million monthly to the Turkish company.
The contract was guaranteed by the government of Pakistan, which stirred the Turk company to move the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) over breach of the agreement.
Pakistan lost the case in 2017 and was ordered to pay a total amount of approximately $780 million (the “Award”), which carried an approximate monthly interest of $5.5 million.