ISLAMABAD: With only one day left to go before the dissolution of the incumbent National Assembly, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) warned the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) chairman to provide the Auditor General of Pakistan access to its record or face arrest.

The direction to Nadra chairman was issued through the interior ministry on Tuesday, after the committee noted that he had skipped PAC meetings despite being summoned numerous times.

The committee in its meeting, which was presided over by chairman Noor Alam Khan, was discussing audit objections related to the Ministry of Interior 2019-20.

“We direct Nadra chairman, through the Ministry of Interior, to provide rec­ord. If he refuses, an FIR be registered against him and he should be arrested,” MNA Khan said, while also directing the PAC secretary to write to the premier about his continuous absen­­ce despite being summoned multiple times.

Committee chairman says people deserve to know how $3bn was utilised during Covid crisis

The PAC chairman sought progress from FIA on obtaining data from Nadra Technologies Limited (NTL), which had also been denying relevant departments an access to its accounts.

Also, the PAC chairman asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to continue inquiry into the case of $3 billion Temporary Economic Refinance Facility (TERF) loan disbursement among roughly 640 individuals during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last week, Noor Alam Khan had directed NAB to lead the investigation and submit details of the beneficiaries and the banks that had disbursed the entire amount within four days.

During the meeting, the committee wondered why billions of dollars were distributed among certain industrialists and large-scale businesses only, and not among small and medium enterprises. The meeting was earlier informed that the markup on the loan was reduced from 7pc to 5pc in order to attract industrialists.

However, MNA Barjees Tahir again demanded the list of the 640 beneficiaries of the loan facility. Senator Saleem Mandviwalla sought details of the outcome of the disbursement whether the money was used for the purpose intended.

Noor Alam Khan remarked the people of Pakistan need to know how the $3bn was utilised amid the economic crisis.

The matter of arms licences also came up during the meeting, as members lodged a complaint with Interior Secretary Syed Ali Murtaza, asking him to entertain their applications which had been pending with his office for several months.

The PAC chairman complained to the interior secretary that his office had misplaced his application for arms licence. “Applications of my family members have also been awaiting approval for months,” he added.

Before wrapping up business, the committee reviewed progress made during the last one year under the chairmanship of Noor Alam Khan.

The meeting was informed that the PAC had recovered more than Rs55.8 billion from July 2022 till June 2023. The committee had discussed more than 6,500 audit paras, and settled 600 from the years 2019-20 and 2021-22.

The PAC had referred 20 audit paras to NAB, 34 others to FIA and more than 200 audit paras to departmental accounts committee, while more than 6,300 audit paras were still pending.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2023