Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Terming the construction of Dasu Dam a project of national interest, Justice Dost Muhammad Khan of Supreme Court (SC) observed that lingering such construction would increase its cost, consequently shifting the burden on tax payers.

He further observed that the construction of Dasu Dam should have started ten years earlier, adding that the project would have been completed but now its cost had increased due to the neglect of the government. Justice Dost Muhammad Khan made these observations while heading a three-judge bench who on Friday took up the appeal for a hearing filed by Power Construction Corporation of China against the Lahore High Court (LHC) judgment.

LHC had dismissed the plea of the corporation, wherein it challenged the disqualification notification issued by WAPDA after the World Bank rejected the name of the Corporation for participation in the bidding process. LHC had dismissed the plea on the grounds that the court lacks jurisdiction to hear the petition due to the involvement of World Bank. However, during the hearing of instant appeal filed against LHC judgment, Justice Dost Muhammad Khan further observed that the government does not have funds to construct even small dams, while this is a huge project requiring billions of dollars. He inquired if there was a country director or head of World Bank in Pakistan. He also asked about the agreement signed by the federal government with World Bank.

Salman Aslam Butt, counsel for Chinese Construction Company, argued that according to the agreement, Pakistani laws have to apply to the construction of the Dasu Dam project. Another member of the bench Justice Qazi Faez Isa questioned as to whether the World Bank examined the application of the Chinese Construction Company. WAPDA’s counsel further contended that the government has opened the financial bids and it has received Rs460 million in the bid. He told the bench that the government could face huge losses if the process was halted at this stage.

However, the three-judge bench ruled that the matter should be taken up by the government with the World Bank so that the petition of the Chinese Construction Company was decided at the earliest. The hearing is adjourned until the third week of September.