Shah in the saddle: New PAC chairman vows to take on all institutions

PPP veteran politician faces the challenging task of auditing his own party’s govt.

ISLAMABAD:

The National Assembly on Wednesday unanimously elected Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker Syed Khursheed Shah as head of parliament’s accountability body – an assignment which will also involve scrutiny of the accounts of the judiciary and his own party’s previous governments.

After his election as the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), he made it clear how he will deal with both the issues. Shah, a veteran politician and Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly, is ready to immediately take on the Supreme Court.

However, he will not take up the audit objections pertaining to the period of 2008-2013 when the PPP was ruling the country, at least for now. Shah has announced that he will first start from the audit reports of 1998 – a time when the PML-N was in power.

Shah became the 21st chairman of the PAC – the most powerful arm of parliament, when Chaudhry Bashir Virk of the PML-N proposed his name for the prestigious slot. He will also face the challenge of running the PAC as effectively as it was run by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, during the PPP’s rule.

Under the Charter of Democracy, signed by the late Benazir Bhutto and incumbent Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to strengthen democracy, the post of PAC chairman is given to the opposition leader.

Chaudhry Nisar remained the chairman for three years before he resigned. He not only ensured over Rs120 billion recoveries but also made many arrogant bureaucrats of the time answerable to parliament.



However, despite his efforts, the previous PAC could not convince the apex court to send its registrar to PAC meetings for the scrutiny of accounts – a challenge that Shah will also face.

“Any institution that is using state funds is answerable to parliament,” said Shah while responding to a question. He said PAC members have also indicated that they would make every department answerable to the committee. The PAC will follow Article 170(2) of the Constitution that binds all the institutions and departments for the audit purposes, he added.

According to Article 170(2), “Audit of the accounts of the federal and provincial governments and the accounts of any authority or body established by, or under the control of, the federal or a provincial government shall be conducted by the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP), who shall determine the extent and nature of such audit”.

Shah said even the AGP could not give a clean chit to the Supreme Court.

However, the Supreme Court is of the view that it takes funds from the Federal Consolidated Fund (FCF) and thus was not subject to parliament’s scrutiny. Many noted legal experts had supported the PAC stance in the past.

In order to ensure financial autonomy of important institutions like the SC and Elections Commission, the architects of the 1973 Constitution have created the FCF pool. Parliament cannot vote on budget given out of the FCF but it does not exempt the money spent from scrutiny.

The AGP has also completed audit up to financial year 2011-12. The audit reports, also carrying details of financial scandals like Hajj scam and Employee Old Age Benefit Institute, will be presented before the PAC for decisions.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2013.