SC Closes Diamer-Bhasha, Mohmand Dams Fund

The Supreme Court of Pakistan issued a written order concerning the hearing from October 9 about the funds for the Diamer Bhasha and Mohmand dams. Chief Justice Qaze Faez Isa authored the order, which directs that the dam funds be transferred to the Public Account of the Federation. Following this transfer, the accounts under “The Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Prime Minister of Pakistan Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand Dams Fund” are to be closed.
The court instructed that a sub-account be created in the Public Account of the Federation or another suitable measure be taken to allow these funds to be deposited in high-rated private scheduled banks to earn interest. When funds are needed for the dams’ construction, the collected amount along with any accrued interest should be used.
The order also mentioned the Implementation Bench, which was formed on January 9, 2019, consisting of five judges: Justice Sh. Azmat Saeed, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Faisal Arab, Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan, and Justice Munib Akhtar. This bench was established by a previous court panel that included the then Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar. However, the court noted that there is no record indicating that the Implementation Bench carried out any work or reviewed the progress reports submitted by WAPDA.
The court stated, “If the Implementation Bench did not examine the progress reports, their submission is pointless. Furthermore, with the retirement of four of the judges, the Implementation Bench currently lacks a quorum. WAPDA’s counsel also indicated that preparing progress reports requires significant time, money, and effort.”
Consequently, the court ruled that WAPDA need not submit any further progress reports unless specifically directed, given that the Implementation Bench is effectively non-existent. The order concluded with the disposal of the listed applications and all related petitions.