Secretary MoI to reply on Steel Mills forensic report by 15th

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) heard the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) corruption case today during which the forensic report into the affairs of the mills was presented, Geo News reported.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry remarked that corruption in the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) including Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Pakistan Railways (PR) is ruining them.

The court instructed Secretary Ministry of Industries (MoI) to submit reply on the forensic report within two days and adjourned the hearing till March 15.

The lawyer representing Pakistan Steel Mills, Fakhruddin G Ibrahim presented the report before the three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

According to the report, the PSM suffered losses of 26.5 billion rupees between 2008 and 2009; Rs 9 billion from corruption, Rs 11 billion from mismanagement and Rs 4.4 billion from losses.

Fakhruddin G Ibrahim told the court that former chairman PSM never spent a day in prison, on the day when he was arrested he declared himself ill and went to hospital. The others accused were also on bail, he said.

The PSM is suffering Rs 40 million loss on daily basis and Rs 1.2 billion on monthly basis.