ISLAMABAD - The counsel for Ministry of Water and Power and PEPCO on Monday acknowledged that there are flaws in the award of the Rental Power Projects (RPPs) but they are not of criminal nature. Khawaja Tariq Rahim, representative of Ministry of Water and Power and Pepco, said, There is negligence on the part of the authorities concerned but that is not criminal negligence, which could be rectified, adding there is no mala fide in the agreements of the RPPs. He said some people are using the RPPs to level personal vendetta. This is a political expediency and that is why Faisal Saleh Hayat has filed the petition on the matter. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heading the bench that heard RPPs case said if the government did not like Faisal then why he was appointed federal minister. He further said the PML-Q leader was made minister after he had filed the petition, adding Faisal is a thorough gentleman. The CJP asked Kh Tariq that the authorities have to establish their sincerity in this case if they love the country. The CJP said the there could not be good governance in the country unless the government gives up the policy of political expediency. The parliamentarians are favoured in order to gain their support. He said if the persons who were awarded unsolicited RPPs contracts to the companies then this mess has not been done. The PEPCO counsel said the Sindh High Court and the subordinate courts have given stay-orders in power cases, amounting Rs 70 billion. He said Rs 65 billion are due against FATA and Balochistan. Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, the other member of the bench, said 32 per cent electricity loss in Karachi is due to 'kunda and power theft and its burden is being put on the customers. During the hearing, the Chief Justice said after the SC judgement on Karachi rest the Sindh Inspector General of Police opened the no-go areas. He said if the corrupt people had been taken to task then the deficiency in RPPs might have been controlled. The Chief Justice said when a lot of hue and cry and the protest rallies were held across the country then the Prime Minister made an announcement that there will be no loadshedding and the next day payments were made and there was no power outage in the country. The Prime Ministers order has ended the loadshedding and not the cabinet. The cabinet has always to do right things, adding the bureaucracy should not obey the illegal orders. Kh Tariq said though under the 18th Amendment the provincial governments were empowered to produce electricity but they have not generated a single unit in 18 months. He said the companies, who had not fulfilled their contract were fined and also the government cut their period, earlier awarded to them. He tried to brief the court about the Rental Power Projects through documents. But the Chief Justice remarked that everything is good on documents but where is its implementation. The Chief Justice questioned how without the cabinets approval 14 per cent mobilisation advance was given to Karkey. Justice Khilji Arif said if the government had provided gas and fuel to Independent Power Producers (IPPs) then there was no need of Rental Power Projects. The court observed that besides the fact that advance payment was given to the plant still it has not started commercial operation. Kh Tariq requested the court to pass an order against Reshma power plant. But the Chief Justice said, You disown it yourself and send their cases to NAB. He said though MoU has not been signed with Reshma, besides it has been accommodated. During the hearing, the Chief Justice said on 3rd November, 2007 the Supreme Court declared the emergency illegal but the then National Assembly passed a resolution and approved it, while the credit goes to present Parliament which has not endorsed the illegal actions of General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf. He said the institutions gain strength from one another therefore they should work for the system. The hearing was adjourned till Tuesday.