Replying to a question in the Senate, the Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri mentioned that a sum of Rs 43 million was spent from the government exchequer on the Umra trips of Mir Zafrullah Khan Jamali, Chaudhry Shujaat Husain and Shaukat Aziz and their entourage. Jamali took 19 persons with him, Shujaat Hussain took 134 persons while 49 persons accompanied Shaukat Aziz.
The amount spent on Jamali's trip was Rs 16.7 million. None of these leaders reacted to the news published in the media.
However, the Senator from the Treasury benches Ms Rozina Alam refuted the charge against Chaudhry Shujaat taking the position that he had borne the entire expenditure on the trip from his pocket.
The Foreign Minister must surely have based his reply on the official record of the government expenditure. In case Chaudhry Sahib had borne the expenditure from his pocket, how the expenditure entered the government's account books becomes an enigma.
Is there not a possibility that some unscrupulous elements may have deprived the government exchequer in the name of Chaudhry Sahib. If that being the position, the matter needs to be thoroughly investigated and the public money recovered.
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