A parliamentary panel sought a detailed report from National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Friday about cases that were closed as a result of National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and later reopened on the directives of the Supreme Court. A sub-committee of Public Accounts committee (PAC) of National Assembly on monitoring and implementation which met here with Rana Afzaal Hussain in the chair directed the authorities concerned to turn up with a detailed report by next meeting.
He also reprimanded the officials for turning up in the committee without preparation about the cases. The NAB has dropped a number of corruption cases against influential and politicians after the promulgation of the NRO during General Musharraf''s regime.
However, some cases were restored after the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared the NRO null and void in a landmark judgement. "We need to know about progress of the cases being pursued by the NAB," he said. Hussain said that the NAB officials should inform the public about current status of the cases. He said the NAB officials should inform the committee about progress in each case in the next meeting.
Regarding audit paras about the cabinet division, the sub-committee directed the Principal Accounting Officer to comply with all directives of the committee in two months and submit a final report. Hussain directed the PAO to take care of all the audit paras about the cabinet division and ensure the recovery of embezzled money from culprits where required. "We are here to protect public money and nobody is above the law," he said. He said bureaucracy was slow in acting on directives issued by the Public Accounts Committee as some of their colleagues were involved in corruption and embezzlement of public funds.
The committee also unanimously decided to ensure hundred percent recoveries of embezzled funds from the bureaucrats of cabinet division. They also directed the Principal Accounting Officer to prepare a complete list of the audit paras that have been settled.
Hussain also expressed dismay over performance of the relevant officials, saying the committee is still looking into audit paras of 90s. "The PAC is a watchdog that should keep an eye on the current projects and audit objections instead of going after the wrongdoings committed in the past," he said.
He also urged the bureaucrats and officials to work honestly and keep an eye on the corrupt officials in their relevant departments to prevent corruption. The audit officials also informed the committee members that 210 audit paras about Capital Development Authority have been pending for the last six years. They also said that only 18 percent directives of the committee about CDA have been implemented so far. "More than three billion rupees have been recovered from CDA following directions of the PAC," the audit officials informed the committee.
Elaborating on different cases about the CDA, the audit officials said that nine cases are registered with NAB and Federal Investigation Agency while 79 others have been pending adjudication in different courts. Convenor of the committee Rana Afzaal said that the CDA store had issued excessive gears of Rs 22.59 million but it failed to fix responsibility despite a lapse of the 15 years. He directed the officials to fix the responsibility of the embezzlement in a month and submit a report with the committee. To a question, chairman CDA said that over 2,000 residential units are being used for commercial activities in Islamabad. "If we impose fine on them for violating the rules, people move the court for stay orders," the chairman said.