In a tenure that spanned just eight months, former Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf flowed development funds like water releasing Rs42.50 billion in absence of any monitoring mechanism and auditors have managed to detect irregularities in Rs17 billion released to 166 non-elected notables, besides others.
Not only distributed among the notables, these funds meant for the MNAs were also doled out to the PPPP’s MPAs from Punjab, reveals the special audit report of the Peoples Works Program for the financial year 2012-13 that was tabled in the National Assembly Thursday.
Among the “notables” include his brother Raja Imran, ADC to Prime Minister, ADC to President, PS to President of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, serving Vice Admiral Shafiq, Qayyum Soomro and 50 individuals from Gujar Khan.
Former PM Yousaf Raza Gillani, Mehmood Achakzai, Chaudhry Pervez Elahi’s brother-in-law Riaz Asghar and other former MNAs and MPAs of PPP and PML-Q were among the beneficiaries of these funds disbursed from public exchequer as personal favors, reveals the reporter of Auditor General of Pakistan.
The audit conducted by the Auditor General of Pakistan have also reported the instances of double sanctions of the funds by the cabinet division against the same directives of the Prime Minister pointing out irregularities of Rs1.47 billion under this head. The auditors further noted the contradiction in the information regarding the exact amount of funds that was shared by different departments involved in the release.
The PM Secretariat, for instance, told auditors that it issued directives for the release of Rs43.56 billion in contrast with the cabinet division that put the figure at Rs42.50 billion, the finance division claims Rs45.56 billion and Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue said the released amount was Rs41.93 billion.
“In absence of monitoring mechanism, it could not be ascertained whether the funds released were spent on the projects which these were intended and that whether the projects were completed according to specifications and plans,” reads the special audit report of People’s Works Program for the year 2012-13.
Of Rs17 billion declared irregular and unauthorized by the auditors include Rs8.12 billion released to the “notables” as AGP report tabled in the National Assembly Thursday notes: “Audit is of the view that release of funds to notables in absence of any approved criteria was not only against the provision of the Constitution but also against the financial rules.”
The then-deputy PM Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s brother-in-law Riaz Asghar (Mandi Bahauddin), Haji Afzal Chan (Mandi Bahauddin), Ch. Manzoor Ahmad (Kasur), Ghulam Murtaza Satti (Rawalpindi), Mushtaq Ghani of Abbotabad (currently information minister of KP), Khurram Munawar Manj (Sheikhupura), Abdul Rehman Kanju (Lodhran), Sardar Ashiq Gopang (Muzaffargarh), Tariq Bashir Cheema (Bahawalpur), Sahibzada Nazir Sultan (Jang), Maqsood Leghari (Dera Ghazi Khan), Khusroo Bakhtiyar (Rahim Yar Khan), Niaz Jhakkar (Layyah), Sardar Tufail Khan (Kasur), Zafarullah Cheema (Gujranwala), Nasir Cheema (Gujranwala), Tanveer Azam Cheema (Gujranwala), Aslam Kharal (Sahiwal), Pir Muhammad Shah Khagga (Pakpattan), Azeem Noori (Sialkot), Amna Zulfiqar Dhillon (Sheikhupura), Mehdi Hassan Bhatti (Hafizabad), Syed Asghar Shah (Bahawalpur), Nawabzada Ghazanfar Ali (Gujrat), Ch. Ghulam Abbas (Sialkot) and others.
The cabinet division argued before the auditors said since the funds were sanctioned on the directions of the PM hence PM Secretariat may be asked about its legality, a contention rejected by the auditors who said being the principle accounting officer, the secretary cabinet was responsible for expenditure made out of the grant under his jurisdiction.
The cabinet’s contention on the similar line in the case of unauthorized release of Rs6 billion to MPAs was also turned down by the auditors.
The auditors further noted that that neither the PM Secretariat nor the cabinet division ensured the fulfillment of codal formalities as required under the rulers. “Audit also observed that Finance Division and AGPR while releasing the funds did not notice the completion of codal formalities required before release of funds,” the report further reads.
