In retaliation, Khurshid Shah adjourned the PAC meeting, deepening a row that has paralysed the accountability body for the last five months.
The PAC was convened under the chairmanship of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) Khursheed Shah of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). The meeting was scheduled to discuss the audit objections against the expenses incurred by Ministry of Communication from 2010 to 2013 – the years when the PPP was at the helm of affairs.
“It is very unfortunate that a constitutional body has remained suspended for the last many months due to refusal of AGP Akhtar Buland Rana to attend its meetings,” said Khurshid Shah as the proceedings of the day began.
He lamented that Rana opted to stay away despite the SJC directives for him to attend the meetings.
The chairman PAC observed that it was also the violation of the directives of the SJC and the council should take notice of it.
The SJC, the judicial body headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan, is hearing a reference against alleged corrupt practices of AGP Rana.
The PAC has sent a reference through Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq after one of its sub-committees found that Rana drew excessive salary from the exchequer. Under the constitution, the AGP can only be removed by the SJC in a manner prescribed to remove a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Shah said Rana did not bother to inform the PAC but media reports showed that Rana arranged a seminar on the same day in Muzzafarabad, what Shah suspected was an attempt to avoid the PAC meetings.
The office of the AGP is considered ears and eyes of the parliamentary accountability system and a vital tool to keep a check on the government’s expenses.
The row between Shah and Rana started on August 4 when AGP Akhtar Buland Rana termed the composition of the PAC against the spirit of democracy and refused to participate in future meetings of the spending oversight committee.
After that Rana issued a notification barring this department to attend the PAC proceedings. However, he withdrew the notification on the directions of the SJC that asked Rana not to create hindrances in PAC working.
Questionable post
Meanwhile, AGP Buland Akhtar Rana, during his visit to the office of Accountant General of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, said Khurshid Shah should not chair the meetings of the Public Accounts Committee.
Rana said: “I wrote a letter to the Speaker of National Assembly about the issue that it is against the spirit of merit to present the reports of the PPP government before Khurshid Shah who was also the part of that government, however, to avoid more controversies we suggest that Khurhsid Shah should hear the reports of the present government rather than the previous government of his party.”
To a question Rana stated: “Audit does not mean that you will present the voucher of the amount but people want to know where money does go and where it has been spent.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 10th, 2014.
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