islamabad - Interior Ministry has recently placed the names of nine accused in RPPs scam on the exit control list (ECL) and at last, incumbent secretary interior Javed Iqbal, an upright officer, has taken a bold step to include the name of former Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in the list, informed sources told TheNation.
Now, a total of 34 accused in Rs 22 billion rental power projects (RPPs) scam have been placed on ECL that include former PM, two former federal ministers and four federal secretaries, besides others former key functionaries, an official of the of the NAB claimed on condition of anonymity. Official sources in the Ministry of Interior Tuesday informed that seven accused in the RPPs scam had been placed on ECL in February, this year, when Khawaja Siddique-e-Akbar was the secretary interior. However, the names of the two accused Raja Pervez Ashraf, former PM and Shaukat Tareen, former finance minister were not included in the list due to the reasons unknown despite NAB has made requests twice.
This time, Javed Iqbal, an officer of police service of Pakistan (PSP), former inspector general pf police (IGP) Punjab and well known for his integrity and uprightness, has taken the lead and the names of Raja Pervez Ashraf and Shaukat Tareen were placed on ECL under his directions. Iqbal has recently taken the charge as secretary interior after the installation of the caretaker government at federal level when his predecessor Akbar was appointed as principal secretary to caretaker prime minister.
Interestingly, the interior ministry has taken more than a year to place the names of all accused on ECL because in April 2012, NAB for the first time had forwarded a list of 34 accused in RPPs scam to the ministry with the request to place their names on ECL. The bureau had taken this decision after it started to probe the RPPs case under the directions of a judgement of the Supreme Court.
They requested the interior ministry twice to put the name of then prime minister and PPP stalwart Raja Pervez Ashraf on ECL but the ministry never entertained the request. Ashraf is under the probe of the bureau as former minister of water and power. The list of 34 accused forwarded by NAB to interior ministry also included former minister for water and power Liaqat Jatoi, former finance minister Shaukat Tareen, former secretaries of the Ministry of Water and Power Shahid Rafi, Ismail Qureshi, and Ashfaq Mehmood and former finance secretary Salman Siddique.
The NAB had started investigations in RPPs scam in the light o f the SC judgement. "All the government functionaries, including the ministers for water and power, holding charge in 2006 and onward and from 2008 to onward, during whose tenure the RPPs were approved/set up and minister as well as finance secretary holding the charge when the down payment was increased from seven percent to 14 per cent, prima facie, violated the principle of transparency under articles 9 and 24 of the constitution and Section 7 of the Act 1997, therefore, their involvement in getting financial benefits out of RPPs by indulging in corruption and corrupt practices cannot be overruled. Consequently, they are liable to be dealt with under the NAB Ordinance 1999 by the NAB," the judgement said.