ISLAMABAD, Sept 7: A citizen who challenged in the Supreme Court a $124 million security venture with a Chinese firm for making Islamabad a safe city against terrorism and got a favourable judgment now seeks a review of the verdict.

“The Supreme Court cannot strike down an inter-state contract between Nadra and the Chinese company,” said the petitioner Shahid Orakzai while talking to Dawn. He had earlier brought to the scrutiny of the Supreme Court the agreement by filing a petition which he later withdrew. The matter was, however, pursued by two other petitioners - Raja Mujahid Muzaffar represented by Advocate Athar Minallah, and Advocate Babar Sattar.

When asked how he can file a review petition in a case which he already had withdrawn, Mr Orakzai said he was doing it because his name had been mentioned in the judgment.

In January 2011, Mr Orakzai had challenged the contract in the apex court stating the entire transaction had been carried out in an illegal and unlawful manner causing a huge loss to the public exchequer. It was contended that a similar project was undertaken for the city of Karachi in the year 2008-09 at a total cost of $8 million.

Subsequently, on August 23 last, a bench comprising Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed annulled the contract by ordering the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to act against former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and other officials for violating rules in awarding the $124 million contract to the Chinese firm.

Describing the deal as a classic case of pleading the law to defeat the law, and declaring the contract illegal, invalid and not transparent, the Supreme Court in its verdict held that the entire project appeared to be farcical.

“That the contract was executed in violation of the Public Procurement Rules 2004, and the exemption purportedly granted under Rule 42 of the rules was based on extraneous and irrelevant reasons and, therefore, it is of no legal effect and consequence,” the court had observed.

Now Mr Orakzai in his review petition argued that the framework agreement for the Safe City Islamabad Project was signed by Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh in the presence of the prime ministers of Pakistan and China wherein the Chinese government had committed to pay subsidies to the Export-Import (Exim) Bank of China “directly” for the concessional loan with an interest rate of two per cent per annum.

The agreement “makes it amply clear that the financial agreement is essentially and primarily between two governments and not between Pakistan and Exim Bank of China,” the petitioner highlighted. “Before deciding the matter, the Supreme Court should have considered the nature of the present contract where the two governments were involved,” the petitioner added.

The verdict dealing with the safe city project has refused to acknowledge the state-owned Chinese Bank as an international financial institution, he argued with a request to the court to stay the effect of its August 23 judgment especially when Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf was all set to undertake his first state visit to China next week.

Mr Orakzai argued that the court had to do justice to both the people of Pakistan and China than merely guarding the interest of Pakistan. “This court has emphasised transparency in spending public money but in attempting to save the public money in Pakistan, it has unwittingly inflicted a loss on the taxpayers in People’s Republic of China who have committed to pay the subsidies,” he pointed out.

Approved in December 29, 2009, the safe city contract was signed for the procurement of surveillance cameras, equipment and services for the purpose of establishing a command centre and network to counter terrorists` activities at a total cost of $124,719,018.

Under the project, surveillance equipment, explosive detectors and scanners were to be installed by the Chinese firm at all entry and exit points of Islamabad. But it was revealed that used equipment were provided for the price of new one.

In 2009, the Chinese Hauwei Technology Company approached Nadra and offered to implement and execute a comprehensive surveillance and monitoring system for security, primarily in Islamabad.

In return, Nadra indicated to the interior secretary the possibility of obtaining a long-term concessional loan from the Chinese government or the Exim Bank, whereupon the Economic Affairs Division was activated by the interior ministry for the allocation of the concessional loan.