No word on findings of three high-profile commissions

ISLAMABAD: Nothing has been officially divulged about the fate of three commissions formed with fanfare to investigate grave charges or settle a key national issue. At least two of the forums were given specific timeframes to dispose of their assignments, and the deadlines have passed a long time ago.

In July this year, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government constituted a three-member inquiry commission to probe allegations against Ajmal Wazir after his sacking as the adviser on information to Chief Minister Mahmood Khan. The commission was asked to submit its report within 30 days. On Prime Minister Imran Khan’s directive, Mahmood Khan had terminated the adviser and formed the commission.

Ajmal Wazir was accused of taking commission and cuts from an advertising agency. At the time, an incriminating audio tape had surfaced prompting action against him. Ajmal Wazir and another person, believed to be the owner of an advertising agency, were heard discussing a project, its cost and tax on the alleged kickback amount. The adviser was expressing displeasure over having to pay general sales tax on his share of the alleged commission.

Ajmal Wazir and the other person later claimed that the conversation had been edited and pieced together to give the false impression that they were negotiating a deal.

The KP government had established the body under its Tribunals of Inquiry Ordinance, 1969. It was asked to determine the genuineness or otherwise of the audio clip through a forensic analysis and/or other circumstantial corroboration if any; examine the procurement being discussed in the audio clip and undertake a thorough review of the process of the award and the subsequent execution of the procurement to determine wrongdoing and malfeasance, if any, and the persons responsible, if any. There has been no word on the findings of this commission so far.

In June 2019, a Commission of Inquiry was constituted by Prime Minister Imran Khan to investigate the use of loans taken from 2008 to 2018 by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) during their respective tenures. Hussain Asghar, who is the deputy chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), was made its head and asked to finalize its report within six months.

It was mandated to fix responsibility for any illegality or irregularity and refer it to the relevant agency or department for prosecution of those responsible. The commission was directed to inquire and probe the award or implementation of any contract or agreement or project and whether any debt was taken for a particular project or undertaking and the allocated money was then spent and expended on it or not.

It was tasked to examine whether the terms and conditions of any public contract were tainted or benevolent or artificially inflated to facilitate any kickbacks, and if so, in whose favour.

It was directed to look into whether any public office holder or their spouses, children and any persons connected to them expended any public funds so as to meet personal or private expenditures beyond what has been permitted under the law and rules.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, who set up the commission, was curious to know why the total debts and liabilities of Pakistan, which were less than Rs7,000bn in 2017, had risen to Rs30,000bn in 2018 when the PML-N ruled. He alleged that this enormous debt was added by the last PPP and PML-N governments to boost the fortunes of their top leaders.

In May this year, it was reported that the commission had submitted its report to the prime minister. However, if true, the findings have not yet been made public. A report also claimed that the forum had not found any case of loan funds going into the pockets of any key politician or bureaucrat. All receipts were instead found to show that the funds went into the government’s account. The report had stated that the body did not discover any case of fraud and corruption.

During the tenures of the two previous governments, prominent economist Dr Waqar Masood Khan, who in October this year was made special assistant by Prime Minister Imran Khan on revenue, had worked in top positions dealing with negotiations for these loans.

The third body, the National Finance Commission (NFC), was constituted in May this year. President Arif Alvi notified the formation of the 11-member 10th National Finance Commission (NFC) to announce a new award for the sharing of federal divisible resources between the Centre and the provinces. However, the move was mired in a controversy at the very outset due to the authorization of Adviser on Finance Hafeez Shaikh to chair the NFC meetings. The Sindh government registered its protest by writing letters to the prime minister on this and other counts.

A row also erupted over Javed Jabbar’s selection as the non-statutory member to represent Balochistan on the NFC. The matter also went to the court. Consequently, Javed Jabbar withdrew his nomination. In July, Balochistan named eminent economist Kaiser Bengali as its non-official member. Since then, nothing has been heard of the NFC; neither has it been convened nor has any demand come up for a meeting of the Commission.