Alleged irregularities in payment: PAC postpones issue of Rs16 bn refunds by former FBR chairman

ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has postponed the issue of alleged irregularities in payment of Rs16 billion refunds by former chairman FBR Shabbar Zaidi due to absence of FBR Chairman Dr Muhammad Ashfaq.

PAC Chairman Rana Tanveer Hussain expressed displeasure over the absence of the FBR chairman and called a meeting next week to discuss the issue. The PAC meeting was held here on Thursday with Chairman Rana Tanveer Hussain in the chair in which the FBR chairman had to give a briefing on the alleged irregularities in FBR by its ex-chairman.

Rana Tanveer informed the meeting that the FBR chairman had informed him over phone last night that he would not able to attend the meeting due to his meeting with the prime minister. Tanveer Hussain said the PAC meeting was already arranged and if a call had come from the Prime Minister's Office, the chairman could have informed it earlier. Hina Rabbani Khar said the meeting was not possible in the absence of the Principal Accounting Officer of the FBR. Rana Tanveer adjourned the meeting and directed to hold another meeting on the same issue next Thursday. He also directed the PAC secretariat to issue notices to the ministries which have not held audit meetings at the departmental level.

Later, while talking to reporters, PAC Chairman Rana Tanveer Hussain said the meeting was convened to discuss the alleged payment of Rs16 billion in ex-chairman Shabbar Zaidi's tenure. “We had received complaints that the former chairman FBR had paid refunds to his friends and clients, including companies,” he said. Unfortunately, he said "we have audit objections of various institutions which are more than two decades old and those responsible for these objections have died."