Huge expenses: IB spent Rs2.7 billion in 42 days

Not only consumed annual budget of Rs200m but also spent excess Rs2.6b in just over a month

LAHORE:

The country’s premier civilian spy agency — Intelligence Bureau (IB) — has spent Rs2.7 billion within 42 days of their allocations, documents available with The Express Tribune reveal.

According to the IB’s secret letter [vide SS Bill No03/2014-2015] written to Accountant General Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) on August 12, 2014, the agency said it had already consumed both the budgetary allocations – totalling Rs2.7 billion – and wanted more money.



It must be noted that this letter was written just two days’ ahead of August 14, when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Azadi March and Pakistan Awami Tehreek’s (PAT) Inqilab March left for their sit-ins in Islamabad.

On the other hand, despite a lapse of Supreme Court’s deadline, the Auditor General Pakistan and the federal government have failed to establish procedures for audit of funds labelled as secret through legislation.

While giving a four-month deadline on July 8, 2013, the apex court’s three-judge bench – headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja – had ordered Auditor General of Pakistan and the federal government to establish the audit procedure.

Documents reveal that the IB not only concealed facts from the Supreme Court in its reply in a suo motu case but also got over Rs4 billion through supplementary grants during Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) government.

According to the IB’s reply — submitted before a three-judge bench headed by the chief justice —Rs400 million were withdrawn from the IB’s secret fund in 2008.

In their replies, Ministry of Finance as well as the IB informed the Supreme Court that this amount (Rs400 million) was obtained through supplementary grants in 2007-2008.

However, documents available with The Express Tribune reveal that the IB received this amount in financial year 2008-2009.

Official figures show that during the PPP regime the IB obtained an amount of Rs4.056 billion as different supplementary grants besides an amount of Rs4.590 billion budget grant.

The IB had obtained all these supplementary grants from the head of account of others [No: AO3970] instead of Secret Service Expenditure’s (SSE) account [No:AO3914], documents reveal.

According to official figures, the IB had received an amount of Rs400 million as supplementary grant in financial year 2008-2009 , Rs770 million in 2009-2010 , Rs944 million in 2010-2011, Rs655 million in 2011-2012 and an amount of Rs1.285 billion in 2012-2013.

The IB had obtained an amount of Rs661.500 million as budget grant in financial year 2008-2009, Rs740.153 million in 2009-2010, Rs910 million in 2010-2011, Rs1.072 billion in 2011-2012 and Rs1.206 billion as budget grant in financial year 2012-2013..

According to official data, the IB had not spent a single penny from the head of Secret Service Expenditure (SSE) during the PPP regime. All the mentioned amounts were spent from ‘account of others’.

“The account of others is open for everyone and auditable according to Constitution of Pakistan, General Financial Rules (GFR) as well a recent judgment of the Supreme Court,” said a senior functionary at Auditor General of Pakistan, while talking to The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2014.