Alleged corruption in MoC: National Assembly body to take up cases on January 7

Allegations of corruption in the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) and its attached organisations, especially the Directorate General of Trade Organisation (DGTO), will be discussed at a meeting of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Commerce on Thursday (January 7).
The meeting will be presided over by the committee's Chairman Engineer Khurram Dastgir, an energetic MNA. Well-informed sources told Business Recorder on Tuesday that Senator Ilyas Bilour, who is chairman of Senate's Standing Committee on Commerce, has expressed his intent to attend the meeting where he is expected to make disclosures.
The committee, the sources said, had also invited representatives of the chambers, who had reportedly made several complaints about alleged corruption in the Commerce Ministry and the DGTO. Commerce Minister's Director Farhan Junejo, who officially has no posting orders in the Commerce Ministry or any of its attached departments till the filing of this report, is handling the affairs of the attached entities.
The sources told this scribe that Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim had ordered an inquiry against his own "unofficial" Director for misusing his name in the issuance of export permits for products, which were banned in the Trade Policy.
One of the top officials of the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), who has recently been "ousted" from the organisation on "omission and commission" charges is also publicly accusing the "Director" of corruption. "I will disclose the Commerce Minister's office backed corruption in the TCP," he told this correspondent. Another TCP Director Sikandar Shah was also seen in Islamabad on Tuesday.
The Commerce Minister's close aides revealed to this scribe that both Sikandar Shah and Farhan Junejo had held a meeting to discuss the "common objectives." According to the sources, Commerce Secretary Zafar Mahmood has recently sent a requisition to the Sindh government for Junejo's posting in the Commerce Ministry, but Chief Minister Sindh Qaim Ali Shah is resisting the posting.
The Commerce Secretary has already directed the unofficial "Director" not to sign official files until he gets his posting orders in the Commerce Ministry. When contacted, the Commerce Secretary confirmed that he had barred Farhan Junejo from signing official files. "I have also asked the Commerce Minister to ratify some of the decisions taken by the "Director" on his behalf," he added.
Clarifying the reports related to requisition of Junejo, he said that his predecessor had written to the Establishment Division to place his services within the Commerce Ministry. "In continuation of earlier communication, I have written a letter to the Sindh Chief Secretary," he confirmed.