Humiliation continues: Pakistan slapped with another Rs11b partial penalty in IPP case

Islamabad: Humiliation seems to be becoming a new norm, as a local newspaper reported that London Court of Arbitration (LCA) has slapped a Rs11 billion partial penalty on Pakistan in a case brought forward by eleven Independent Power Producers (IPPs).

As unfortunate the news is; it follows what has overall been a week of setbacks for the Government of Pakistan, as Profit reported about Turkish entity Karkey Karandeniz Eelktrik Uretim As, being awarded damages worth $700m in a rental power plants (RPPs) lawsuit filed against Pakistan in International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

The LCA will start proceedings for deciding the total damage to be awarded during its hearings scheduled for October 1^st and 2^nd. It is expected after the conclusion of the hearing, that the penalty to be paid by Pakistan would further increase.

Terming it as a collective failure of different government departments, a senior official blamed especially the power ministry of such catastrophic outcomes within a span of a month.

Legal pundits with abundant experience in such international litigation and arbitration cases have demanded an investigation into these abysmal failures of Pakistan in several arbitration cases which includes Reiko Diq, Karkey and now this IPP one.

IPPs responsible for having the brought the case against Pakistan in LCA were: 1) Halmore Power Generation Limited 2) Nishat Chunian Power Limited 3) Hub Power Company 4) Sapphire Electric Company Limited 5) Orient Power Company 6) Atlas Power Limited 7) Liberty Power Tech Limited 8) Nishat Power Limited 9) Saif Power Limited.