KARACHI: SHC issues notice to ministry, Wapda, KESC
KARACHI, May 11: A division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Justice Sarmad Jalal Usmani and Justice Ali Sain Dino Metlo on Friday issued notice to the Ministry of Water and Power, Chairman of Wapda and KESC for May 16 on a petition filed against continuous load-shedding in Karachi.
Applicant Syed Iqbal Kazmi advocate submitted that at the time of the KESC’s privatisation, its new administration had promised spending $300 million for improving infrastructure to ensure provision of uninterrupted electricity. He stated that on January 10, 2007, the federal minister for water & power had claimed that there would be no load-shedding this year.
He further stated that despite all promises and assurance by the KESC and the government, the new KESC administration had failed to improve electricity system and provide uninterrupted electricity, hence objectives of the KESC’s privatisation had become ineffective. Persisting load-shedding in Karachi disturbed routine life and caused about Rs1.5 million loss daily to the industrial sector, he maintained.
He prayed to the court that the KESC be directed to take emergency measures and bring an end to the load-shedding. He also prayed that the privatisation of the KESC be cancelled and the utility be taken back by the government.
After preliminary hearing of the petition, the court issued notice and adjourned the matter.
NAB REFERENCES: A division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Justice Rahmat Hussain Jaffery and Justice Mohammad Afzal Soomro on Friday adjourned several appeals for grant of bail filed by accused Zafar Iqbal, Mohammad Akram and K.K. Memon named in NAB references. They are accused of involvement in corruption, corrupt practices and accumulation of assets beyond their known sources of income.
The first constitutional appeal (No. 975/2007) was filed by Zafar Iqbal for grant of bail on the ground that the NAB had filed a reference against him without disclosing the guilt and he had falsely been implicated in the reference and had been put behind the bars since March 2007.
Representing NAB, Additional Prosecutor General of Accountability Ainuddin Khan requested for grant of some time for filing a rebuttal of the allegations and to show charges. The court allowed the time and adjourned the hearing till May 18, 2007.
It may be mentioned here that Zafar Iqbal was co-accused in Salahuddin Mughal case, in which funds of the Workers Welfare Board were grossly misappropriated.
In another appeal (No 900/2007), accused Mohammad Akram Nadeem has requested grant of bail.
The petitioner has taken plea in bail application that all his properties were inherited and he had not accumulated any assets, therefore, the allegations against him were false.
A copy of the comments was filed in the court and the case was adjourned till May 18, 2007.
Mohammad Akram Nadeem was OT Technician in the Sindh Government Qatar Hospital, Orangi Town, and was arrested by NAB, Sindh, for running his private clinic in North Nazimabad and posing himself as a doctor.
The third constitutional petition (No 12/2005) was filed by Dr A.Q. Alvi in reference No. 32/2003 in which arguments were partly heard and the case was adjourned till May 14, 2007.
In the relevant case, main accused Khamiso Khan Memon, Dr A.Q. Alvi and others were accused of misappropriating development funds meant for a scheme involving 468 acres of land worth Rs150 million in Deh Shadi Shaheed, District Khairpur, managed by the Shah Abdul Latif University management.
