PAC accuses spy agencies of negligence

PAC accuses intelligence agencies harassing journalists and spying on politicians instead of performing their duties.

ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday accused intelligence agencies of failing to perform their duties and instead harassing journalists, rigging elections and tapping the phones of politicians.

The PAC, headed by leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, observed that the spy agencies would have to rethink their roles.

“Except in Pakistan,” nowhere else in the world do intelligence agencies “handle journalists and tackle politicians,” Nisar said. “The ones who were not ready to talk to each other are making political alliances, thanks to the intelligence agencies,” he added, hinting at the recent merger of Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid and Functional.

The debate over the role of spy agencies started when the Cabinet Division refused to publically share with the PAC details of the Intelligence Bureau’s (IB) expenditures. Secretary Cabinet Rauf Chaudhry said that there is a practice of allocating a one line budget to the IB and at the end of the financial year a certificate of utilisation is issued.

“The taxpayers want to know what the intelligence agencies are doing while hundreds are becoming victims of terrorism,” said Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid member Riaz Hussain Peerzada.

In response, the IB director-general Javed Noor said, “We are carrying out operations and achieving results but what we do not do is play to the gallery.” He said that the “IB has not indulged in picking up journalists and tapping the phones of politicians during the last 16 months.”  Terming that a sweeping statement, Nisar said that “in every intelligence agency there is a wheel within a wheel,” and that those running it sometimes do not know what their staff is doing.

The PAC directed that due care be taken in budget allocation and of its judicious utilisation.

In addition, the PAC also directed that the name of General (retired) Shahzada Alam, chairperson of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority during General (retired) Pervez Musharraf’s government, be placed on the Exit Control List. Alam is accused of financial fraud and the office of audit department said that he spent Rs10.2 million on the wrongful purchase of six vehicles.

The PAC also asked for Alam’s assets to be valued and for a special audit of his tenure.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2010.