Shehbaz defers anticipated face-off with NAB

PAC decides to take up Grand Hyatt Hotel, Royal Palm Country Club and Islamabad airport cases

ISLAMABAD: Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Shehbaz Sharif on Monday delayed a much-talked about face-off with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and postponed a briefing on delay in completion of investigations in dozens of pending cases referred by the previous committees.

Shehbaz Sharif, in the maiden PAC meeting chaired by him on Friday, had summoned NAB for a briefing on Tuesday (today) afternoon. “I could feel on Friday that the PAC members showed great interest in a Power Division briefing, which could exhaust the members before the NAB session,” said Sharif, explaining the reason behind the decision.

The Power Division’s briefing had been scheduled during the morning session on Tuesday. Shehbaz Sharif, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president, did not give a new date for the NAB briefing.

The PAC’s very first decision to summon the bureau’s representatives had created hype in the media due to the very fact that Shehbaz is behind the bars in a NAB case on allegations of corruption. He comes to attend the PAC meetings and National Assembly sessions on production orders.

The PAC had summoned NAB officials to explain a delay in completing investigations in dozens of cases that the last two committees had referred to the anti-corruption watchdog for action.



The 14th PAC (2013-18) referred 168 cases to NAB and 68 cases to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for taking action against those who caused losses to the public exchequer. The 13th PAC (2008-13), chaired by PML-N’s Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, had referred 33 cases to NAB and 30 to the FIA.

In the last PAC meeting, PML-N’s Sheikh Rohail Asghar enquired about outcomes of these cases.

Shehbaz Sharif also objected to media reporting and said the PAC did not grill NAB and the FIA on Friday. The cases pending before NAB are old ones referred by previous PACs and the members did talk about the issue on basis of their memory, he said.

The PAC also decided to take up three high profile cases pertaining to previous years. Shehbaz announced the formation of a sub-committee of the PAC that will look into audit objections in cases of Grand Hyatt Hotel – famously known as Constitution One avenue building, Lahore’s Royal Palm Gold and Country Club and New Islamabad International Airport.

PTI’s Fakhar Imam will head the sub-committee, having representation from other parties also. Many politicians, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, have bought apartments in Grand Hyatt Hotel.



The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) told the PAC that the hotel was built in violation of regulations and there were glaring irregularities in the deal. The AGP also pointed out Rs31.1 billion irregularities in the Rs106 billion New Islamabad International Airport project.

The matter of Royal Palm Club is pending before the Supreme Court due to alleged illegalities in lease of the land by the Pakistan Railways. The PAC members vowed that the parliament’s most powerful body would exert itself and take the matters that remain pending for years to their logical end.

PAC member Brig (retd) Ijaz Ahmad Shah sought to put a price tag on the losses caused by incompetency of the bureaucracy. “The nation will not vanish because of corruption but because of incompetency,” he said. “Parliament is supreme only when it asserts itself,” he added.

PTI’s Riaz Fatyana also highlighted the issue of bad governance as key impediment to progress and sought action against bureaucrats under the disciplinary rules.

AGP Javed Jahangir sought PAC’s support for making his department independent of the influence of the Finance Ministry. He said the PAC should support an amendment to the AGP Ordinance 2001 aimed at bringing it in line with the mandate of the office enshrined in the Constitution.