PM gives go-ahead to form body for performance audit of PHF

ISLAMABAD: Patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has given go-ahead to constitute a four-member committee to conduct performance audit of the federation in recent times.

The committee that will be headed by Pakistan Sports Board’s (PSB) director general will include Akhtar Rasool, Shahnaz Sheikh, Islahuddin Siddiqui and Khawaja Junaid.

“Yes, the patron-in-chief has given go-ahead to form a four-member committee to evaluate Pakistan hockey outfits’ performance during the last seven years. We are currently in process of preparing the ToRs of the committee and the notification to this effect will be issued during the next few days,” a PSB official said.

He added that a notification to this effect was issued on January 26, 2023, where the PHF patron-in-chief had given go-ahead to the recommendations forwarded by the high-profile committee headed by Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif. The committee also included federal ministers Ayaz Sadiq and Ehsanur Rehman Mazari.

The PM’s approval of the committee recommendations available with ‘The News’ shows that the proposals at sub-paras (i), (ii), (iv) & (v) of para 12 are approved with the stipulation that the draft for the new rule, to be inserted for constitution of the interim committee, shall be submitted for orders of the prime minister before submission of the case to federal cabinet for its approval.

The sub-para (i) approval is regarding conducting the special financial audit of the PHF from August 2015 to May 2022 including reports that a parallel unaccounted Bank account (hidden) was also being run by the federation’s officials.

It is believed that the Ministry for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) has already written a letter to the concerned authorities to conduct the audit at the earliest.

The patron-in-chief has also given go-ahead to refer the matter to the FIA after receiving report of the special audit.

Para 12: IV says: “The election of the PHF may be conducted by the Election Commission as provided under Rule 17 of the Constitution of PSB subject to the constitution of the Election Commission and Notification of the Rules in terms of order of Honourable Islamabad High Court. Islamabad dated 18-07-2022 passed in writ petition No.2524/2022 (Annex-II). Since, there is no specific provision in the Constitution of PSB to run the day-to-day affairs of suspended sports federations, therefore, a new rule may be incorporated in the constitution with the approval of federal cabinet to empower the PSB to constitute an interim committee for this purpose.

“PSB’s Legal Advisor may be assigned the task to study the constitutional provisions, different Acts already passed in cases where the subject matter is not specifically included in the Federal Legislative List and to suggest the mechanism for legislation on the issue of sports by the parliament followed by drafting of legal instrument(s). The draft for the new rule, to be inserted in the constitution of the interim committee, shall be submitted for orders of the prime minister before submission of the case to the federal cabinet for its approval.”