ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on Wednesday declared the direct releases of subsidy payments by previous governments from the federal consolidated fund to various sectors a "financial indiscipline", and referred the matter to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Munaza Hassan convened the meeting of the sub-committee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to examine the audit report 2014-15 of the Finance Division.
The committee questioned the authenticity of subsidies given till 2021 by the present and the previous governments by bypassing the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), and sought comprehensive details from the Finance Division as well as referred the case to the NAB to examine whether these releases were given in a transparent way.
The National Accountability Bureau will complete its investigation within four months.
The Director General Federal Audit informed the committee that the audit has raised objections against the subsidy given to sugar, wheat, textile, fertilizer, and other sectors without fulfilling the essential prerequisite of the law of the land.
He said previously, the Finance Division released the subsidy directly from the federal consolidated fund without pre-audit checks as required under Section 5(b) of the Controller General of Accounts (Appointment, Functions and Powers) Ordinance, 2001.
Audit gave these comments, while pursuing a case of an alleged irregular payment of Rs329 billion, which was made from the fund on the advice of Finance Division in 2013-14.
"Audit is of the view that this was a violation of Article 170(1) of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973 and resulted in financial indiscipline."
Two committee members, Munaza Hassan and Khawaja Sheraz Mehmood, agreed to refer the case to the NAB for a further probe; however, Senator Mushahid Hussain registered his dissenting note.
He contended that the subsidy amounts spending till 2021 or spent by previous regimes should be investigated.
He said the NAB should not be tasked to investigate a specific period.
"The NAB should apply a single principle to verify authenticity of subsides given in 2008, 2014 or 2021," he added.
Earlier, Special Secretary Finance Kamran Ali Afzal contended that the audit para cited a letter written to the Finance Division in November 2008, which exempted the Finance Division from requirement of the CGA. An official of the CGA office endorsed the viewpoint of the secretary and said that the Finance Act 2014 had amended and allow direct release of subsidies in certain situation.
The audit official remarked that the viewpoint of the CGA established that subsidies were given by previous regimes against the law of land as CGA did not verify their claims of subsidies.
On the basis of a simple letter from Audit General of Pakistan (AGP), which carried not any legal status, subsidies were given, he added.
The Special Secretary also said that in particular case of Rs329 billion, there might be an urgency as the country was facing power shortage and the federal government could not wait for two to three days.
The convener of committee said that no one had examined the claims and justifications of direct payments of subsidy by previous governments as the required procedure was not followed.
In another case, the committee also sought details from the NAB regarding an inquiry ordered by Prime Minister's Office against acting chairman Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) Dr Joseph Wilson in 2013-14.
An official of the CCP informed the committee that he was in Canada. Dr Wilson was accused of making appointments during ban period, allowing mergers, giving irregular payments of visits abroad by seven officers during 2013-14.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
Comments
Comments are closed.