FAISALABAD: Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) officials have been trying hard for the last one-and-a-half months to recover a meter allegedly installed illegally to energise the foundry unit of a PML-N MPA.

Two Fesco officers, Superintendent Engineering (Operation) Mujahid Pervaiz Chattha of first circle and EXEN (M&T) Rao Muhammad Ali of second circle, had already been transferred to the Sukkur Electric Supply Company for raiding the factory owned by MPA Tahir Jameel.

The MPA had been elected from PP-69 seat which falls under the constituency of State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali.

Finding no way to recover the meter, Fesco Chief Executive Officer Rasheed Aslam had on March 31 constituted a four-member committee to probe into the issue.

The committee comprises chief engineer (operation) Haji Anwar who is a convener, chief commercial (officer) Haroon Rasheed, chief engineer (development) Masood Salahuddin and manager (S&I) Javed Sahi.

The Fesco chief had asked the committee to probe into causes of transfer of SE Mujahid Chattha and EXEN Rao Ali particularly keeping in view the aspects of M&T checking and billing of the electricity connection of the MPA.

He had given a week to the committee to come up with its findings, but still its members are unable to make any headway.

Sources said the MPA had submitted an application to Fesco authorities for installation of a meter at the foundry he had purchased, although he had been using electricity through an illegally installed meter for three months.

They said that team members of the M&T section, who had gone to the factory to install a meter, found that the electricity was already being used through an illegally installed meter.

The team had asked the officer concerned regarding the meter installed at the factory, but the staff said the meter had been stolen. The staff could not give any proof of the meter theft.

Sensing the situation, EXEN Rao Ali had sent a letter (1426-29) to the SDO (operations), Sammundri Road sub-division, on March 11, mentioning that MDI meters had been replaced/removed with healthy meters.

Since the replaced meters are required at the M&T lab for detailed checking/data retrieval, it is advised to send meter of account no (24-13242-5200820) to the lab so as to retrieve the data in the interest of Fesco.

On March 17 last, the Fesco chief had received a tip-off that a factory on Sammundri Road had been stealing electricity illegally.

He had constituted a raiding team headed by the EXEN (M&T) which detected during the checking that the sanctioned load of the mills was 452-KW, but it had been consuming 512-KW of load.

The EXEN had recommended the department concerned for taking legal action against the mills owner as per the Fesco rules.

After the raid, the Fesco team learnt that the factory was owned by MPA Tahir Jameel which resulted in the transfer of SE Mujahid Chattha and EXEN Rao Ali on the orders of the Pepco managing director.

However, both officers managed to get a stay order from the Lahore High Court by challenging their transfer orders.

Mr Chattha mentioned in his writ petition that the area where the factory of the MPA was situated did not come within his purview.

On March 28 last, the All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union had also staged a demonstration outside the Fesco headquarters and denounced the transfers on political grounds.

MPA Tahir Jameel said he had done nothing wrong and all legal requirements had been fulfilled to get the meter installed.

He said he was ready to face an inquiry to be carried out by the Fesco.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2015

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