Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC), saying that all the members of the Parliament are bound by law to protect the Constitution, declared all rental power projects (RPPs) illegal and non-transparent and will stand as null and void, SAMAA reports Friday.

Reading out the verdict, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry said it is incumbent upon the democratically elected members of the Parlaiemnt to shoulder their responsibility towards the sovereignty of the country.

It should be mentioned here that a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry reserved its ruling on December 14, 2011 in the rental power case.

The case, the verdict says, was heard on different occasions from 2010 to 2011.

Faisal Saleh Hayat, praying to the court to take notice of immense corruption in rental power projects (RPPs) alleged that five billion dollars were extorted from the pocket of the public.

Faisal Saleh said he took recourse to the court after he was not heeded in the Parliament. The court took up the case and the parties presented their respective viewpoints.

Faisal submitted the relevant documents and instruments as evidences in the case.

Khawaja Asif, praying to the court to be a party to the case, appeared before the bench on October 21, 2010.

The ruling reviewed that the matter was moved by the Parliamentarians.

Declaring at least six RPPs contracts as illegal, the court said the entire matter regarding the RPPs is needed to be reviewed thoroughly again.

The court ruling says also the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) failed to accomplish its responsibilities.

The Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO), Generation companies and WAPDA dealt heavy loss to the nation, the ruling further said.

Large-scale embezzlements were carried out in rental power projects (RPPs) including Sharqpur, Rashma, Karkey and Gulf Power Projects, the ruling noted. SAMAA

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