The issue was discussed during the meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources, which was chaired by Bilal Ahmed Virk.
The FIA official told the committee that FIRs had been registered against the five accused.
Virk stated that the main accused happens to be the president of the housing society, Irfan Babar, who continues to occupy a senior post in the company. Babar is listed as the company’s general manager MMD.
Incidentally, the development was a cause of concern for the committee chairman and petroleum ministry officials as well. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the petroleum minister, happens to be the MNA of the area where the housing society is located.
However, the reply to Virk’s concern came from Arshad Malik, general manager HR at OGDCL, who said that Babar has obtained pre-arrest bail and is continuing at the post.
“OGDCL has acknowledged that their logo was used illegally, their telephones were used to sell the plots at this housing society without permission. Senior employees cannot be part of any such venture,” Virk said. “But what [action] has OGDCL taken against the said employees.”
Other matters discussed
Meanwhile, the minister for petroleum told the parliamentary panel that someone has to pay for the installation of gas connections for people living within a five-kilometre radius of the gas fields.
“There is a misconception that gas will be provided free of cost to people living around gas fields – even the gas connections will not be free,” Abbassi said.
He was responding to queries by the National Assembly Standing Committee members on Petroleum and Natural Resources.
Committee members, mainly from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, inquired about the status of the policy of providing gas to consumers living within a five-kilometre radius of gas fields on a priority basis.
Officials informed the committee that gas utility companies SSGC and SNGPL would provide connections, but the matter remained pending over the issue of payments.
“Somebody has to pay for it – either the federal government through the MNA schemes or the provincial government through the royalty received on gas production or the consumers,” the minister said.
On the other hand, members Nasir Khan Khattak and Akram Khan Durrani wanted to inquire about gas development schemes in Nowshera district of K-P, but SNGPL officials did not have details.
“The issue is that gas is extracted from Kohat, Karak and Hangu districts but the royalty on gas is mostly spent in districts like Nowshera,” Khan said. Many members of the committee seconded his statement.
The committee also took serious note against the management of OGDCL and PSO, who are accused of protecting corrupt employees.
Similarly, a senior PSO official was grilled by members for protecting an employee accused of corruption who had even confessed in court and agreed to pay back Rs1.2 million. However, PSO hired him back and earned around Rs0.5 million a month.
PSO officials did not know the court’s decision and the employee’s salary package.
The committee also criticized the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources for failing to terminate the licences of exploration and production companies that were not executing activities in their allocated blocks.
 has told a parliamentary panel that it has booked five people accused to be involved in corruption amounting to Rs570 million in the OGDCL Employees Housing Society.){kind=link}