- The judge installed a 15 KV solar power system at his residence.
- Justice (retd) Jamali personally paid for this system.
- The judge requested the office to review all the previous electricity bills.
ISLAMABAD: Former Chief Justice of Supreme Court Justice (retd) Anwar Zaheer Jamali has asked the government to reimburse the electricity expenses incurred for consumption of 2,000 units every month over a period of three years. news Reported on Friday.
The request was made after the installation of a 15-kV solar power system at his residence, for which he had personally paid.
According to official documents received by newsThe former top judge had written a letter addressed to the deputy registrar of the top court and the correspondence was forwarded to the finance ministry, with the subject being “reimbursement of cost of consumed power units adjusted through net metering in the bill”. .
Justice (retd) Jamali, in his letter, cited paragraph 25(1)(c) of the Supreme Court Judges (Leave, Pension and Privileges) Order 1997, which empowers every former Chief Justice of Pakistan and a judge of the Supreme Court. Is. Claim reimbursement for 2,000 electricity units per month.
The letter said Justice (retd) Jamali had personally installed a 15 KV solar system at his residence. As a result, the cost of power units consumed at their residence is being adjusted through net metering (solar system), and their bills reflect “No Payment Required”.
In his letter dated October 3, 2023, the former CJP had requested reimbursement for consumption units adjusted through net metering, as per their eligibility under the 1997 order.
“I installed a 15 KV solar system at my residence to address the rising power consumption charges from the supplier K-Electric, in line with the policy of austerity. The immediate benefit of this setup is that during several months when actual consumption does not exceed 2,000 units, a significant amount is paid by the consumer to K-Electric by offsetting the electricity units sold through net metering. .
“Till recently, I was unaware that the office was misinterpreting the provision of the 1997 order in payment of power consumption charges for 2,000 units or less consumed as per entitlement. I came to know about it when I received a check for electricity dues in a letter dated May 31, 2023, which indicated an amount of Rs 6,603 as against the actual amount for electricity consumption charges from January to April 2023 (four months) I went. Rs 78,935 were paid through unit adjustment and cash.
“Upon further investigation, it was revealed that this wrong practice was going on for more than three years, resulting in huge financial loss of lakhs of rupees.
“It should also be emphasized that as per the Presidential Order of 1997, it is the responsibility of the consumer to pay the electricity bill to K-Electric, and it is the duty of the office to reimburse the consumption charges as per entitlement.
“Given this factual and legal context, I request that the office review all past electricity bills and make payments as per the explanation mentioned above. As stated in the letter, this practice should be followed in future also.
The Finance Ministry was contacted for comment on Friday, October 20, 2023. However, despite waiting for almost a week and sending several reminders, no response was received till the filing of this report on Thursday, October 26, 2023.
