Senate PAC probes Railways’ alleged misappropriation of funds

Audit officials identified during audit of 2010 objections regarding misappropriation of Rs194.7m had come to light

ISLAMABAD: Revealing the misappropriation of millions of rupees in the sale of railway scrap, Senate Public Accounts Committee’s Subcommittee Convener Shibli Faraz has admonished railway officials for their unsatisfactory reply and inquired into the issue of billions of rupees.

He has also asked why an inquiry in the matter had not been initiated by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

In the PAC subcommittee meeting, presided over by its convener, Senator Shibli Faraz, the audit objections for 2010-11 were considered.

In the meeting, audit officials identified that, during the railway audit of the year 2010, objections regarding the misappropriation of Rs194.7m had come to light but their data had not been provided despite being asked many times, following which some people had also been acquitted.

Subcommittee Convener Shibli Faraz then admonished railway officials for their unsatisfactory reply and inquired into the issue of billions of rupees. He also asked why an inquiry had not been initiated by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) as this was public money, and also inquired about the procedure adopted to prevent it from happening again.

Railway officials said that the FIA had lodged a First Information Report (FIR) in the matter and had then taken it back.

Audit officials also told the PAC that the annual Railways deficit was Rs32.2billion and the annual expenditure for fuel was Rs17.5billion. Railway officials also said that, amid old measurement tools for fuel, a loss of Rs154.7 million had been incurred.