Govt lacks capability, ability to run country: SC

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed Tuesday lashed out at the government over a report on K-Electric's performance and remarked that the government has neither the ability nor capability to run the affairs of the country. The CJP’s remarks came during a hearing of a case pertaining to the prolonged power outages in Karachi.

During the hearing, the chief justice remarked that if there’s no writ on KE, it meant that the government did not have any writ to govern the country.

“This government does not have the capability to run the country,” he observed.

Turning to the Power Division which submitted its report on KE, Justice Gulzar Ahmed said the report was prepared after taking money from KE. “We should fire the joint-secretary over this report. We had asked for a report on the current situation and he has given us a report about the future,” he was quoted as saying by Geo News.

“Forget about the future, tell us what you’re doing right now,” the top judge asked.

Justice Gulzar continued, “KE is not treating Karachi right and the government has become a clerk for the power supplier. KE has not paid its dues since 2015.”

The top judge added that there was no coordination between the departments. “Half the city (Karachi) is in darkness and there is a race to make more money,” he remarked.

Earlier, the apex court directed the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to take action under Section 26 of the Nepra law and determine KE’s exclusive rights to supply power to the city. The apex court said that Nepra has the authority to conduct a public hearing and take necessary decisions.

The court also directed the power regulator to form a tribunal in 10 days to decide further steps. “The courts will not issue any stay order against Nepra’s authority to take action under Section 26,” it said and dismissed all the stay orders.

It also directed Nepra to submit a report based on its findings in the court.

On Monday, the regulator had submitted a report in the apex court on action taken against KE's prolonged power outages in June and July.

In the report, Nepra had said that it had slapped the power utility with a fine worth Rs200 million for unannounced and prolonged power outages in the metropolis. KE, during the power outages, had claimed that it has been facing continuous challenges on account of inconsistent supply of furnace oil in line with its demand and has been highlighting this challenge so that it can be urgently resolved by the relevant authorities.