Justice Taufiq accused of power abuse
JAKARTA (JP): A watchdog alleged on Friday that the Supreme Court Vice Chief Justice Taufiq had abused his power by ordering the Jakarta High Court to seize Rp 2.1 billion from the State Electric Company (PLN) to compensate losses claimed by a private company.
Taufiq made the order through a "powerful letter" dated Jan. 15, 2001, addressed to the high court, Wasingatu Zakiah of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) told reporters. In the letter, Taufiq ordered that the money should be paid to PT Enico National Development, which had suffered losses in a project in which PT PLN was not involved, she said.
The case centers on a project of the Mines and Energy Ministry at the hydrothermal electric-plant center in Suralaya, West Java. The project was granted to the privately-run PT Enico, which started the work in 1990.
The contract was canceled in 1993 by the ministry because PT Enico failed to comply with the contract requirements as corroborated by the findings of the Development Finance Controller (BPKP) on the company's performance.
PT Enico sued the ministry at the North Jakarta District Court, which ordered the ministry to pay PT Enico a total of Rp 719.4 million.
Unsatisfied, PT Enico appealed to the Jakarta High Court, which ruled that the ministry had to make the payment, plus interest, to the company.
The Supreme Court upheld the district court's verdict.
PT Enico asked the Supreme Court to review the case and won. The justices ruled that the ministry was guilty and thus ordered it to pay the compensation plus a monthly 3 percent interest and Rp 500,000 a day, starting May 31, 1993.
Based on the ruling, prosecutors confiscated Rp 2.1 billion from PLN's accounts.
PLN filed an objection to the North Jakarta District Court, which then halted the execution.
The district court, and later also the Jakarta High Court, ruled that the state power company was not involved in the case.
PT Enico brought the case to the Supreme Court.
Until today, the Supreme Court has not hand down the verdict. But on June 21, 1999, the then chief justice Sarwata issued a decree stating that PLN was not involved in the case between PT Enico and the ministry.
But Taufiq, through his letter dated Jan. 15, 2001, annulled the decree, saying that PLN is involved in the case, and that the prosecutors could confiscate PLN's money without waiting for the justices' verdict.
PLN's lawyer, Dedeng Hidayat, said that Taufiq's decision was based on, among others, a letter from PT Enico's lawyer, Patrialis Akbar, who is also a member of the House of Representatives from the Reform Faction.
In his letter dated Oct. 24, 2000, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta Post, Patrialis asked the Supreme Court's help to order the North Jakarta District Court to immediately hand over the money confiscated from PLN to PT Enico's director, Gunawan Purnama.
Chairman of PLN's workers union, Udi Bowo, said the scam could cause Rp 72.9 billion losses to the state.
Taufiq could not be reached on Friday for any comment.
ICW urged the House to investigate Akbar's involvement in the case, and the Attorney General's Office and the Joint Anti- corruption Team to further investigate those involved. (bby)