NADRA pays Rs75m for offices it never used

Agency provided large advance sum for area that is also ‘too big’ for offices it was meant to house

ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) reportedly paid Rs75.08 million in advance rent to hire a privately-owned building in Islamabad earlier this year, but has yet to move in and utilize it, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told an Islamabad court on Friday that a group of NADRA officers had illegally hired a building in the Capital Development Authority (CDA) Civic Centre to house three offices for the authority. The total monthly rent for these offices was Rs4.46 million.



The authority started paying rent for these offices from February 15, 2016, but it did not take possession of the premises until August. Despite taking possession, the offices remain vacant to date, the FIA informed the court on Friday.

On Thursday, the agency had arrested three NADRA officers who were involved in renting the building. They were handed over to the FIA on three-day physical remand by a judicial magistrate on Friday. Those arrested include then-NADRA Estate Deputy Director Ishtiaq Ahmed Siddiqui, Finance and Accounting Deputy Director Muhammad Saqlain, and Procurement Deputy Director Mahboob Rabbani.

FIA officials said that the building was rented in haste and in sheer violation of the procurement rules without observing due process of competitive bidding and advertisement.

Officials said the huge space was also disproportionate to the actual requirements set for the three offices which were hitherto located in residential areas.

“The building was hired in the garb of urgency necessitated by court orders regarding the non-conforming use of residential buildings, but contrary to this plea of urgency, they failed to occupy the building for more than eight months despite payment of advance rent amounting to Rs75.08 million,” the FIA report said. It added that the premises were rented without any assessment, justification and cogent need, as all three offices have been shifted to existing NADRA facilities.

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FIA claimed that the ‘criminal negligence’ on the part of the suspects caused taxpayers a loss of Rs37.91 million.

The suspects maintained that they were only the members of the hiring committee and it was the responsibility of the NADRA director general to approve the committee’s recommendation and transfer staff to the new building.

The court will take up the case again on November 21.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19^th, 2016.