Secret funds case: SC asks information ministry to certify list of secret expenses

“How can any expense be left without an audit,” Justice Hussain questioned.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to certify and re-submit its list of secret expenses and observed that the list would be displayed on the court’s website.

A two-member bench, comprising of Justices Jawwad S Khawaja and Khilji Arif Hussain, had been hearing a constitutional petition seeking the end of the use of taxpayers’ money to buy journalists and media outlets. One of the petitioners, Absar Alam, had urged the court to direct the ministry to make sure that the correct names of journalists and media houses were submitted to the court and that no personal likes or dislikes affected the list of names.

Earlier during the hearing, counsel for the information ministry Advocate Raja Aamir Abbas claimed privilege on 155 of the 372 items mentioned in the reports presented to the court and asked they be kept confidential. He did not ask for any secrecy regarding the remaining 217 items, however.

Justice Khilji Arif Hussain questioned as to why the payment to a person associated with a channel was being kept secret. Justice Jawwad, meanwhile, observed that since the money was drawn from the public exchequer, the people of Pakistan had the right to know. He noted that a Rs187,000 sum, which had been spent on the lodging of a certain journalist, had not even been audited.

“How can any expense be left without an audit,” he questioned, observing that even matters pertaining to national security were subjected to audits. Justice Jawwad maintained that the practice of keeping public accounts secret was instituted during colonial times and as such was outdated. “The use of public funds will have to be disclosed,” he asserted.

Petitioner Asad Kharal said even intelligence agencies did not ask for as much privilege as the information ministry. He added that the agencies have also presented their record in the court, even to the extent of providing receipts for the payment of Rs300,000 to a journalist. He pointed out that the court had ordered an explanation for the secret funds of 27 departments worth Rs4.75 billion in its January 15 order, but no such explanation had been provided yet.

Subsequently, the bench directed the lawyer to present the specific laws which enabled the ministry to claim secrecy and keep certain information confidential.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2013.