Pakistan SC admits plea seeking to stop electricity import from India

 Pakistan's Supreme Court has accepted a petition seeking to prevent the import of electricity from India at a time when the country is grappling with a crippling energy shortage.

The apex court yesterday admitted the petition filed by the Watan Party despite objections from the court registrar's office.

The petition asked the court to bar authorities from accepting India's reported offer to supply 5,000 MW of electricity to meet urgent energy needs.

A two-judge bench of the apex court heard the petitioner's lawyer Zafarullah Khan, who asked the court to stop the government from importing electricity from India.

The petition said any such deal would be "shameful" for Pakistan, alleging that India produces electricity from "stolen water from illegal dams."

Due to this alleged "theft" of water from rivers, Pakistan is facing a scarcity of water for Kharif crops, the petition claimed.

Khan said by buying Indian electricity, Pakistan would approve India's alleged "theft" and accept violations of the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960.

On Monday, the apex court had directed Khan to furnish the Indian Supreme Court's judgement of 2005 on the interlinking of Indian rivers.

Sources told PTI that Indian and Pakistani officials had discussed a proposal for supplying about 500 MW of electricity to Pakistan to make a beginning in energy cooperation.The sources said it was unlikely that India would offer 5,000 MW at the initial juncture.

Pakistani cities are struggling with power cuts of six to eight hours every day while the outages in rural areas last up to 18 hours.

Experts have said the energy shortfall is expected to increase with the onset of summer.
Temperatures have already soared in most parts of the country.