SC orders transfer of dam funds to govt’s public account

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered to transfer the money collected for construction of Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams to the public account of the federation.

A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan, issued a written order of hearing held on October 9 in seven-year-old suo motu case regarding fundraising for the dams.

The six-page written order authored by Justice Isa directed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) that the amount in the account maintained in the name of ‘The Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Prime Minister of Pakistan Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand Dams Fund’ be transferred to the public account of the federation (in terms of Article 78(2)(b) of the Constitution).

The court further directed that after transfer of the money, the account should be closed.

“A sub-account in the public account of the federation be created or other appropriate measure be taken to enable the said amount to be lent to the best rated private scheduled bank(s) so that mark-up can be earned thereon,” said the order.

The court further directed that when any amount is required for the construction of the dams, the amount collected and mark-up accrued should be so utilised. The court disposed of the applications and all other connected applications and petitions.

The court noted that to ascertain the amount in the account, the SBP was directed to submit its report, and the central bank stated that, as on October 4, 2024, the total collected amount was Rs11,475,776,584 and the mark-up earned thereon was Rs12,194,306,459. “The accrued mark-up has exceeded the amount collected, therefore, we inquired who had paid the mark-up and were informed that it was the federal government,” the order said.

Similarly, the court noted that the total amount (principal and mark-up) is Rs23,670,083,043. The court further noted that Wapda’s counsel stated that the present projected cost of the dams is Rs740 billion (Diamer-Bhasha Dam to cost Rs480 billion, and Mohmand Dam to cost Rs260 billion). “The amount in the said account, therefore, constitutes only 3.2 percent of the money required to build the said dams, and of such amount the larger portion the government itself has paid in the form of mark-up,” the written order said.