ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday requested legal expertise to determine whether it should continue overseeing the accounts established under its 2018 directive for funding the Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams.
A four-judge bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, decided to issue notices to former attorney generals Khalid Jawed Khan and Anwar Mansoor, as well as amicus curiae Makhdoom Ali Khan, to provide their insights on the matter.
The bench reviewed an application from the federal government and the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) asking for the transfer of funds from the Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand Dams Fund—managed by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)—to Wapda’s accounts at the National Bank of Pakistan. The application also requested that the government and Wapda be permitted to exclusively use these funds for the dam projects.
During the hearing, it was revealed that the fund had grown to Rs18.6 billion, including Rs7.1 billion in profits. The Supreme Court ordered the SBP to provide a detailed breakdown of the funds, as the latest information was outdated.
Barrister Saad Rasool, representing Wapda, suggested that funds should be directly released to Wapda rather than going through the federal government, and questioned the effectiveness of the Supreme Court’s ongoing supervision of the funds.
Additional Attorney General (AAG) Chaudhry Aamir Rehman referenced Article 78(2b) of the Constitution, which stipulates that all revenues or money received by the Supreme Court should be part of the Federal Consolidated Fund. He argued that retaining the funds within the Supreme Court might be inappropriate and assured that once transferred, the funds would be used exclusively for the dam construction.
The Supreme Court directed the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) to attend the next hearing or appoint a senior officer to assist with the fund transfer process. The court will reconvene in three weeks to continue the proceedings.
The account was originally established following a Supreme Court order in 2018, with then Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar depositing Rs1 million of his personal funds and former army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa donating over Rs1 billion. The account was set up to exclusively fund the dams’ construction and was intended to be administered under the Supreme Court’s supervision, with strict conditions to ensure the funds were used solely for the dams and audited as directed by the court.
