Failure to appear: PAC threatens drastic measures against SC registrar
Following an eleventh hour snub by the Supreme Court (SC), an exasperated Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Friday settled on two options: either bring SC Registrar Dr Faqir Hussain in front of parliament’s accountability body with help of the police or refer the matter to the speaker of the National Assembly.
“The Supreme Court has crossed all limits and now the PAC will pick one of the options in its next meeting,” said PAC Chairman Nadeem Afzal Chan. The PAC chairman said the next meeting will be held on Tuesday behind closed doors.
The PAC had issued a final notice to the SC registrar to appear on Friday so that it may scrutinize the SC’s appropriation accounts, which have been pending since 2006 due to the apex court’s refusal to send its registrar. On Friday, Chan declared that the PAC’s patience had run out.
The PAC had issued the notice after consulting Pakistan Bar Association and other eminent jurists. All those consulted endorsed the PAC view that it has the power to call on the registrar in order to scrutinise the SC’s accounts.
Just a few hours before the meeting, the registrar issued a public statement saying he would not appear before the PAC, as it did not have the authority to summon him.
“The registrar’s response is a violation of the Constitution, an insult to representatives of the people and a breach of Parliament’s privilege”, said an incensed Chan.
He said that if the PAC exempts the SC from audit then it will open a Pandora’s Box, and other departments taking funds from the Federal Consolidated Fund (FCF) will also seek exemption, rendering the office of Auditor General of Pakistan and PAC useless.
The Presidency, National Assembly, Senate, Election Commission of Pakistan, Auditor General of Pakistan and SC take funds from the FCF, known as “charged expenditures”. The other institutions appear regularly before the PAC. Secretaries of both the NA and Senate also appeared on Friday for scrutiny of their accounts.
As per schedule, the Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue tabled two grants of the SC pertaining to the period of 2004-05 and 2005-06. Chan said there was no serious irregularity shown in these accounts. He went on to say that if the SC registrar had appeared today, the PAC would have settled the grants.
“If the SC takes funds from Parliament, then it is bound to appear before Parliament,” maintained Chan.
He said the rules allow the PAC to summon the registrar, but he wanted to take a decision with consensus, adding that he had deliberately let the matter linger on, as he did not want to give the impression that there was a clash of institutions taking place, particularly at a time when the SC was hearing the case of former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
However, Pakistan Muslim League’s (PML-N) legislator Sardar Ayaz Sadiq pre-empted the move to summon the registrar and said that, instead of summoning him, the matter should be referred to Parliament for a decision.
“I propose the registrar be brought before the PAC handcuffed by the police,” said Noor Alam of the Pakistan Peoples Party. He asked why the SC was so reluctant to give respect to the PAC, when the prime minister of the country and the head of every political party could appear before the SC.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 15th, 2012.
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