PAC orders inquiry against traffic police

Orders closure of its two driving schools

PESHAWAR:

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly has ordered closure of two driving schools run by traffic police in Peshawar and also ordered inquiry against the traffic police as it failed to deposit Rs6.7 million in the provincial exchequer earned from driving courses.

An inquiry committee has been formed to look into the matter, fix responsibility and submit its report.

A meeting of the accounts committee was held in the assembly secretariat which reviewed the financial matters and audit paras of the police force. It was chaired by acting chairman PAC Baber Saleem Swati. MPA Inayatullah Khan, Dr Asia Asad and MPA Arbab Waseem were present on the occasion. Representatives of the audit, finance, law and PAC officials also attended the meeting.

Police officials including SSP traffic, DIG Saleem Marwat, DPO Chitral and the then deputy commandant elite force Asif Iqbal appeared before the committee and answered the objections raised in the audit paras.

Four objections were raised on the financial affairs of traffic police in which three paras were settled by the committee on the condition that necessary documents should be produced.

On this occasion the committee warned the DG audit not to put forward weak paras which result in the waste of time on which he admitted his mistake.

In the fourth para it was revealed that the traffic police didn’t deposit Rs6.7 million in the national exchequer in the year 2014-15.

Similarly, Rs2.9 million were earned from driving licences under the head of medical fee but not deposited in the exchequer.

The police officials defended their case and claimed that the amount was spent on creating awareness among the masses about the traffic laws and two driving schools were also established and the money was also spent on driving courses.

The committee reviewed the audit reports and then ordered closure of both the schools. The chairman said that no one is authorized to spend the money on his own without the permission of high-ups and by ignoring rules and regulations completely, adding that it is a typical example of misuse of powers.

He maintained that the PAC is aimed at creating financial discipline in the departments and both the driving schools have been closed down as they were established without prior permission.

The chairman also ordered an inquiry committee after consultations with the other members and it was tasked to fix responsibility in the irregularity. The committee will work under the supervision of MPA Arbab Waseem.

Moreover, the settlement of three audit paras of the DPO Chitral office was also linked with the production of relevant documents.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2021.