ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to seek Supreme Court’s permission for re-appropriation of development funds before the end of the fiscal year.

The government believes that 38 ongoing development projects, including the ambitious metro bus service and some power sector schemes, will be adversely affected if it was not allowed to immediately re-appropriate Rs12.5 billion.

The government filed on Monday an application in the apex court seeking early hearing on a petition it had filed on Feb 8 this year for review of its Dec 5, 2013 judgment on the prime minister’s discretionary funds.

In the judgment a bench headed by then chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had held that the Constitution did not permit allocation of funds for MNAs/MPAs/notables at the sole discretion of the prime minister. The court declared the exercise illegal and unconstitutional and asked the government to develop a procedure for allocation of such funds.

Although the verdict allowed supplementary grants, it asked the government to strictly follow the procedures provided in Articles 80 to 84 of the Constitution and the relevant rules.

The judgment was issued on a suo motu case relating to doling out of Rs47 billion by former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf under the Peoples Works Programme (PWP-II).

The PML-N government’s application sought hearing on its review petition on Thursday and submitted a list of 38 development projects of Rs12.5bn for urgently needed re-appropriation.

Pursuant to the judgment under review, the progress on many projects of national importance had been put on hold for want of access to funds through re-appropriation, it argued.

Some of the projects needing re-appropriation are: Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro bus service (Rs7.6bn), Karachi coastal power project — K2/K3 — (Rs2bn) being pursued by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, 132kv Thatta-Mirpur Sakro transmission line (Rs816 million), Nai Gaj dam in Sindh (Rs700m), construction of 132kv grid station and feeding transmission line at New Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad (Rs332.61m), Ghabir dam (Rs200m), construction of 100 dams in Balochistan (Rs200m), water distribution network based on Khanpur dam water source phase-III (Rs200m), 132kv grid station at Kohlu in Balochistan (Rs57.8m), construction of a model prison in Sector H-16, Islamabad (Rs50m), construction of a non-residential building and other facilities for the Force Headquarters Scouts and 113 Wing in Gilgit (Rs33.685m), Sialkot Business and Commerce Centre and turbines and power plants equipment manufacturing facility (Rs30m), revival of Cutlery Institute of Pakistan in Wazirabad (Rs1.8m), Faisalabad Garment City Company (Rs3.8m), replacement of air-conditioning units at the Supreme Court branch registry and judges rest-house at Bath Islands in Karachi (Rs4.4m) and a project for technical assistance to access to justice programme (Rs5m).

The Planning Commission has already disbursed Rs7.6bn for Islamabad portion of the metro bus project, even though it was not part of the PSDP approved by the National Economic Council and the parliament.

The government’s application argued that allocations made in the annual budget for various heads/projects were based purely on projections. During the course of a financial year, some projects face implementation issues which hamper progress and allocated funds remain unutilised.

It said that as per financial rules, the ministries, divisions or executing agencies recommended diversion of funds from slow-moving projects to fast-track projects and, in certain cases, implementing agencies requested for additional funds through re-appropriation within their allocated budget for a year mainly to complete fast-track projects.

At a PSDP review meeting in March this year, the application said, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) said that if the policy of re-appropriation was allowed within their allocated budget for the fiscal year 2013-14, a total of 55 projects would be completed. If permission was not granted, only seven projects would be completed, the HEC added.

The application also referred to the calamitous events which wreaked havoc in Sindh’s Tharparkar district and required urgent utilisation of funds to supplement the Rs1bn relief package announced by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt also filed an application requesting the Supreme Court to allow him to argue the review petition in place of Shah Khawar who has been elevated to the Lahore High Court as judge.