Senate housing society scam: Take no plea bargains, Senate chairman tells NAB

Slow pace of investigation derided; detailed report due by next hearing on October 30.

ISLAMABAD:

After years of ‘suggesting’ that the capital’s city managers deal more patiently with property developers, parliamentarians on Wednesday took an ironically harsh stand on one affecting its own staff.

The Special Committee for Senate Employees Cooperative Housing Society warned the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against any going for a plea bargain, despite the fact this has been the primary method of recovery employed by the bureau.

The committee meeting on Wednesday was presided over by Senate Chairman Nayyer Hussain Bokhari, who observed that the SECHS scam is of sensitive nature as it not only involves the hard-earned money of the people, but also the prestige of the Senate as an institution.

“It is painful when institutions involve themselves in the property business and defraud the general public and parliamentarians,” Bokhari observed.

He also expressed his disappointment over the absence of the interior secretary from the meeting and decided to take action against the top bureaucrat under the rules. He said that the meeting has been convened to discuss a matter of great public significance and that the interior secretary should have informed the secretariat in writing if he had other commitments.

National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq said that the committee meetings are set after consultations with the relevant departments and the participation of relevant officers must be ensured. The Senate chairman noted that mushroom growth of housing societies across the federal capital is because of the inefficiency of the interior ministry, the Capital Development Authority, the Islamabad chief commissioner, and other agencies.

He raised various questions about the allotment of plots, NOCs and membership of the society on a wider scale, including the fact that the land acquired was not in a consolidated shape.

Bokhari stressed upon NAB to expedite the investigation and expressed dissatisfaction over the slow pace of work so far.

The special committee was given a detailed briefing on the findings and recommendations of a report on the society. Bokhari gave clear-cut instructions to NAB that no plea bargain would be acceptable for the committee. He directed the NAB chief to provide a detailed report on the issue by October 30, when the next meeting is scheduled.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2014.