SC orders Sindh CM to submit reply in Thar Coal corruption
KARACHI: The Supreme Court of Pakistan Monday ordered the Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to submit a report on alleged corruption in the Thar Coal project.
The SC directed the Chief Minister submit his reply in a case pertaining to alleged rampant corruption in the Thar Coal Authority within a period of one month.
An apex court bench (Karachi Registry), headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed, expressed displeasure over the Sindh government for failing to furnish an audit report regarding expenses incurred by the authority. “Not a single glass of water has been made available to the people of Thar despite spending Rs 105 billion,” observed the bench, adding that the government has not provided basic facilities to the people.
Justice Gulzar remarked, “all this money went into pockets,” adding it’s the duty of the government to provide the people basic amenities. “You people can’t even carry out development work in a transparent manner. Billions of rupees meant for Thar Coal Authority and Mobile Emergency Unit were embezzled,” he said, censuring the advocate general Sindh.
“All the money went into the pockets of officials,” said Justice Ahmed. The government has to work for the benefit of the people, he said. You [the Sindh government] can’t complete a single project with transparency, he remarked.
The judge said that the Sindh CM was responsible for this. He should submit the reply in a month, the court directed.
In the previous hearing, the SC had expressed dissatisfaction over the non-submission of an inquiry report regarding corruption in the Thar Coal Authority. It asked the Sindh government to submit a progress report along with pictures of the project and the development work, if any.
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