Senior bureaucrats have landed themselves in hot water over their failure to comply with court orders with the initiation of contempt proceedings.The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued notices to Irrigation Secretary Sohail Qureshi and former chief secretary Mumtaz Shah on a contempt of court petition related to the non-payment of dues to a private company in a contract of the Irrigation Department.
The court ordered the official to appear before it and charges will be filed on a contempt of court application. The SHC also issued show-cause notices to Sindh Chief Secretary Sohail Zafar Rajput. The court ordered the contempt accused to appear in person on May 27.It rejected the reply of former chief secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah. The court remarked that in the reply, there was no explanation for failing to implement the court’s order and nor was there an apology.
The court expressed satisfaction over the reply of Finance Secretary Sajid Jamal Abro.The court remarked that the finance secretary could not initiate a summary of the payment. The bench removed the name of the finance secretary from the contempt proceedings.It remarked that the Sindh government’s lawyers could not point out any mistake in the review petition.
According to the report submitted to the court, authorities confirmed that the payment amount in question was Rs585.1 million.The SHC ordered the Sindh government to pay the amount to the company within a month. It remarked that the Irrigation Department and other officials had conducted the GPR test of the work themselves.
The government, in its own report, described the work as satisfactory and estimated the amount paid. The SHC had ordered payment on February 3, 2022, at the request of Ashraf D Baloch Company. The court had also rejected the Sindh government’s request for review.In the petition, it was stated that NAB had also initiated an inquiry into the complaint of defects in the work of Jamrao Canal. NAB had conducted a GPR test from the Geology Department of the University of Peshawar. The University of Peshawar described the work of the canal as satisfactory. Following the university report, NAB terminated the inquiry against Ashraf D Baloch Company.
