Payments to Broadsheet: MPs summon NAB chief, AGP officials

ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee has taken notice of the Broadsheet saga and directed the auditor general of Pakistan for complete investigations into the matter.

The PAC sought reports from the auditor general of Pakistan and the National Accountability Bureau with regard to Broadsheet saga by January 19.

A meeting of the PAC was held on Thursday with its Chairman Rana Tanveer Hussain in the chair in which the audit paras related to the Ministry of Interior for the year 2019-20 were examined. The PAC took notice of the Broadsheet story on the demand of Senator Sherry Rehman and other members of the committee.

The cabinet’s allegation on the alleged corruption of the Department of the Auditor General of Pakistan echoed in the meeting of the PAC and in protest, the committee refused to take up the committee agenda. The PAC members were furious on allegations against the PAC in the meeting and asked the chief whip of the ruling PTI, Aamir Dogar, who is also a member of the PAC, to take up the matter with Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser as the cabinet put the question mark on the working and credibility of the Public Accounts Committee.

As the PAC meeting started, the members lodged protest on the remarks made in a cabinet meeting on the alleged corruption in the Department of the Auditor General of Pakistan and the PAC.

Rana Tanveer said the question on the performance of the PAC was raised in the cabinet meeting and the committee will not take up the audit paras in protest. He remarked that when the audit of the government started, shrieks of rulers started. “The PAC has so far recovered over Rs 5 billion and a letter will be written to the secretary cabinet on the matter of allegations leveled in the cabinet meeting,” he said.

Senator Sherry Rehman said a vicious campaign against institutions like the Department of Auditor General of Pakistan and the PAC is being made. The government does not want investigations into corruption in its tenure, she said, adding that serious allegations were made against the department of the Auditor General of Pakistan and the committee could not neglect these allegations. The committee should write to the cabinet.

Naveed Qamar remarked how it is possible that the PAC could not hold accountability as the NAB “is doing our accountability”. Iqbal Muhammad Ali and Sheikh Rohail Asghar suggested that the committee should walk out in protest. Aamir Dogar said he was present in the cabinet meeting and he will talk on this issue in-camera.

Rana Tanveer said the news reports about the cabinet’s allegation against the Department of the Auditor General of Pakistan and the PAC are before everyone. He said 80 per cent of the audit paras never came before the PAC while a sub-committee of the PAC was formed to examine the accounts of the government for the last 10 years. “We being the opposition are doing the accountability of the government and when the audit paras of the year 2018-19 started, shrieks of government ministers started.

Later, talking to the media, Rana Tanveer said a report from the Department of the Auditor General of Pakistan and the NAB has been sought on the matter of the Broadsheet saga and asked the auditor general of Pakistan to hold investigations into the matter. He said it should be told when the contract with the company was signed and how much payment was made and also why the agreement was terminated.

He said the prime minister is saying that the Broadsheet matter should be investigated and why the contract was terminated. “We will tell the prime minister about investigations into the whole episode,” he said, adding that a letter would also be written to the secretary cabinet on the allegations made in the cabinet meeting. “We will also decide first whether it was discussed in the cabinet or not.” He said no reply was given yet on the increase in the circular debt and when they touched the issue of RNLG, they started raising objections. He said the ministers are used to whispering about the PAC. “The ministers were not summoned in the meeting but the federal secretary concerned,” he said.

The issue of production order of Khwaja Asif for the PAC meeting was raised in the meeting and Rana Tanveer said that no action is taken when the Public Accounts Committee issues production orders of any member. On this, Ayaz Sadiq said the speaker National Assembly cannot stop the production orders issued by any committee chairman.

Sherry Rehman said the cabinet has levelled serious allegations against the Department of Auditor General of Pakistan and the Public Accounts Committee. “Whether these were made only because the PAC was auditing the accounts of the government,” she said, adding that the whole PAC was in protest over allegations made in the cabinet meeting. “The cabinet has made wrong allegations and it is our demand that the cabinet explain them,” she demanded. She said the PAC is only constitutional forum of accountability for exposing the government corruption. “The baseless allegations were being made against the PAC because it is exposing the corruption of the government.”

She said the current PAC has recovered over Rs 4.4 billion so far and the amount is more than the total recovered amount by the NAB. She said the government is paralyzing constitutional institutions through media trial. “The government aims at disbanding the PAC, but we will not allow it.”

Sheikh Rohail Asghar, while talking to the media after walking out of the PAC in protest, said the cabinet levelled these allegations without thinking as the majority of the members do not differentiate between the Accountant General Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) and the Auditor General of Pakistan. “They even do not know that the majority of the PAC members belong to the ruling party,” he said.

Earlier, National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs is poised to look into the payment of Rs4.5 billion to assets recovery firm Broadsheet LLC by Pakistan as a penalty imposed by a London arbitrator.

The 21-member committee, headed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member Ehsanullah Tiwana, will hold an in-camera meeting on January 18 to get briefings from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman and several other relevant figures.