ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the change of title of a special fund to the ‘Supreme Court of Pakistan-Prime Minister Diamer Bhasha-Mohmand Dams’ created to collect donations for the construction of vital dams in the country.

“The Supreme Court has no issue if the earlier title of the dam is changed on account of the speech of Prime Minister Imran Khan for the purpose of raising funds,” observed Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar.

The chief justice was heading a four-judge special bench constituted to consider the change of title from the Supreme Court Diamer Bhasha-Mohmand Dams to the Prime Minister-Chief Justice Diamer Bhasha Dams.

The chief justice recalled that the prime minister in his speech to the nation had stated that he wanted to join the initiative, adding that whosoever wanted to join in the effort to build dams was their partner.

Says it will continue supervising and monitoring donations

The court also observed that since the prime minister enjoyed certain status, it had no objection on the change of title.

But Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan made it clear that while the prime minister’s joining of effort in the construction of dams was a welcome step, the apex court would continue supervising and monitoring the entire funds.

During the proceedings, the chief justice recalled that the prime minister before his speech to the nation had talked to him to seek permission but the matter had been fixed before the bench because no such permission was obtained from the court. “But we have no issue of ego or personality clash,” CJP Nisar observed.

Earlier, Additional Attorney General (AAG) Nayyar Abbas Rizvi told the court that due to the change of the title by the finance ministry on the instructions of the State Bank of Pakistan, problems cropped up since media advertisements already developed had to be changed again.

Since the title of the fund was made under a court order, the same should be changed only through a court order, the AAG argued, adding that an amendment bill had also been placed before parliament by the Federal Board of Revenue for maintaining the dam fund.

He also said that all cellular companies would also launch a campaign to repeat the message for collecting donations from the mobile phone users, adding that over Rs60 million had already been collected by the cell companies from their consumers.

Meanwhile, the same bench issued notices to the Planning Commission, Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and the provincial governments of Sindh and Balochistan on a petition moved through senior counsel Rasheed A. Razvi highlighting the snags that had hit the development of Nai Gaj dam in Dadu district (Sindh).

The petitioner has sought a directive for allocation of sufficient funds to complete the dam as early as possible.

Gaj is a hill torrent that emanates from Khuzdar district of Balochistan and after passing through the plains of Kutch, eventually enters Manchhar Lake. The Nai Gaj area remains dry for eight months and gets water in four months during the monsoon. Nai Gaj flows often devastate flood protective bunds and inundate agricultural lands when Manchhar Lake is not in a position to receive flows after attaining peak level during the monsoon. Monsoon water, after inundating agricultural lands and devastating houses and standing crops, falls into the sea and, as such, a huge amount of water is wasted, the petition said.

Apart from serving as continuous flow of fresh water to Manchhar Lake, which will improve the ecology of the lake, the Nai Gaj dam will also serve as a lifeline for the people of this mountainous region with the potential of changing their socio-economic conditions.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2018