The PAC directive came after the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) Office told the auditing arm of parliament that the Supreme Court registrar had declined to share money details with the investigators.
The PAC:
We will first humbly ask former CJP Saqib Nisar to appear before PAC at the next session and clarify the amounts of monies he received from Pakistan and overseas, as well as if he could collect funding for the dam through the SC,” PAC Chairperson Noor Alam Khan said.
The PAC chairman stated in his remarks that the former CJP had no immunity, stressing that, like any previous president or high-profile retired official, he was merely a former chief justice of the country and could be interrogated and brought before the PAC.
Alam stated that the PAC will first review the records or official record before questioning anyone, along with any prime minister, army chief, president, or CJP, and that everyone may be held accountable.
Be certain, everyone will be held accountable, he stated.
Following the rejection of the SC registrar, Alam asked the PAC staff to write a letter to the registrar alleging that he was violating the Constitution by failing to provide details to parliament’s highest monitoring body.
Tell him he needs to work inside the law, he said.
Alam further instructed his employees to include in the letter that the registrar was required to give all documents pertaining to the dam financing.
The orders to call the former CJP and write a letter to the registrar of the Supreme Court came after a dissatisfied PTI member, Nawab Sher Waseer, inquired about the condition of “Baba Rehmatay’s” dam and its funding.
Former Chief Justice Nisar had appropriated the moniker of Baba Rehmatay – a caring old man who wishes to assist people – for himself.
The term is derived from the late Ashfaq Ahmed, an acclaimed writer who exploited Baba’s figure to tell stories.
In response to Waseer’s inquiry, Alam asked AGP officials if they had reviewed the specifics of the dam financing from the SC. They said that the SC registrar had declined to provide any information.
On July 10, 2018, former Chief Justice of Pakistan Nisar established the Supreme Court of Pakistan Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand Dams Funding to gather funds for the construction of both dams.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan website, the SC monitored the fund and its registrar directly handled its account.
Balochistan officials told PAC that the overall number of minor, check, and delay action dams was 1,020, with 41 of them affected by the current monsoon spell.
The committee was informed that 69 small dams and weirs in Sindh were damaged during the monsoon and flash flood in 2022.
According to officials, the Small Dams Region reported that 58 dams were partially damaged; the Sindh Resilience Project reported partial damage to seven dams; and the Kotri Barrage Region stated that Malir Weir I completely collapsed while Malir II, III, and Thado Dam suffered slight losses.
