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PAC orders action against ex-generals | DAWN.COM
ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly asked the National Accountability Bureau on Wednesday to start criminal proceedings against three former military generals for their involvement in a shady deal of leasing prime land of Pakistan Railways in Lahore to a private party.
During a meeting of the PAC at the Parliament House here, NABs Chairman Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari said the management of Royal Palm Golf and Country Club, the beneficiary of the controversial and shady land lease deal had, under a revised agreement, agreed to pay additional Rs16 billion.
PAC Chairman Nadeem Afzal Gondal said since the involvement of these generals had been duly proved NAB should take action against them.
If you mind calling them generals, we may call them by their names, but they shouldnt be spared and dealt with in accordance with the law of the land, Mr Gondal said.
Questioning the revised agreement NAB was busy in finalising between the railways and the Country Club, Khawaja Asif of the PML-N argued that since the lease of Pakistan Railways land had been proved scandalous, the deal should be cancelled.
Moreover, he said the net asset value of Rs16 billion which the Country Club authorities had agreed to pay in 39 years would, in the end, wouldnt make more than Rs1.5 billion if calculated as a net value asset. He also questioned soft handling of former generals by NAB authorities.In case of politicians, you people appear to be ever ready and deal with iron hand, but your handling of uniformed personnel is always different, said Khawaja Asif.
PPPs Yasmin Rehman endorsed Khawaja Asifs argument and wanted cancellation of the shady deal.
Admiral Bokhari said investigations were continuing into roles of the three retired generals responsible for the lease whereby the Country Club had been awarded 141 acres of Pakistan Railways prime land right in the heart of Lahore. The deal was struck in 2001.
The then minister for railways, Lt-Gen (retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi, along with Secretary and Chairman of the Pakistan Railways, Lt-Gen Saeeduz Zafar, and General Manager Maj-Gen Hamid Hassan **** had been held responsible for manipulating the deal to the loss of Pakistan Railways.
According to findings of a special parliamentary committee, Pakistan Railways suffered a loss of Rs25 billion as a result of the transfer of land.
Briefing PAC on the scam, NAB chairman said his priority was to retrieve every single penny lost in the shady lease and as far as controversial role of the former military officers was concerned they were also being investigated with the due involvement of the GHQ.
Following the NAB ordinance our first duty is to engage every accused in a plea bargain to ensure recovery of lost public money, and if the gentlemen in question agreed to such an arrangement, fine, otherwise they will be penalised according to the book, the NAB chairman said.
The NAB chairman claimed that in the revised deal all loopholes left unplugged in the 2001 deal had been adequately taken care of and with the additional payment of Rs16 billion by the Country Club, the loss initially caused to the national exchequer had been fully recovered.
Answering a flurry of questions, the NAB chairman admitted that in the past the bureau had been used as a tool by rulers for political victimisation. When Hamid Yar Hiraj of the PML-Q sought the exact number of politically motivated cases currently pending with NAB, the bureau chairman said he had constituted a special committee headed by the bureaus prosecutor general to determine the exact number of such cases and he would present a detailed report to the PAC.
Mr Hiraj said he personally knew cases where NAB had been used for political victimisation and people were continuously suffering from those long pending cases.
The NAB chairman assured the committee that NAB would settle all these cases before next general elections, adding: I myself am under tremendous pressure not from my own department but from within the system, from media and above all from political parties and will try my best to address these cases on an emergency basis.
Admiral Bokhari told the PAC that NAB should be an autonomous body with absolutely no control over it by any government department.
ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly asked the National Accountability Bureau on Wednesday to start criminal proceedings against three former military generals for their involvement in a shady deal of leasing prime land of Pakistan Railways in Lahore to a private party.
During a meeting of the PAC at the Parliament House here, NABs Chairman Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari said the management of Royal Palm Golf and Country Club, the beneficiary of the controversial and shady land lease deal had, under a revised agreement, agreed to pay additional Rs16 billion.
PAC Chairman Nadeem Afzal Gondal said since the involvement of these generals had been duly proved NAB should take action against them.
If you mind calling them generals, we may call them by their names, but they shouldnt be spared and dealt with in accordance with the law of the land, Mr Gondal said.
Questioning the revised agreement NAB was busy in finalising between the railways and the Country Club, Khawaja Asif of the PML-N argued that since the lease of Pakistan Railways land had been proved scandalous, the deal should be cancelled.
Moreover, he said the net asset value of Rs16 billion which the Country Club authorities had agreed to pay in 39 years would, in the end, wouldnt make more than Rs1.5 billion if calculated as a net value asset. He also questioned soft handling of former generals by NAB authorities.In case of politicians, you people appear to be ever ready and deal with iron hand, but your handling of uniformed personnel is always different, said Khawaja Asif.
PPPs Yasmin Rehman endorsed Khawaja Asifs argument and wanted cancellation of the shady deal.
Admiral Bokhari said investigations were continuing into roles of the three retired generals responsible for the lease whereby the Country Club had been awarded 141 acres of Pakistan Railways prime land right in the heart of Lahore. The deal was struck in 2001.
The then minister for railways, Lt-Gen (retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi, along with Secretary and Chairman of the Pakistan Railways, Lt-Gen Saeeduz Zafar, and General Manager Maj-Gen Hamid Hassan **** had been held responsible for manipulating the deal to the loss of Pakistan Railways.
According to findings of a special parliamentary committee, Pakistan Railways suffered a loss of Rs25 billion as a result of the transfer of land.
Briefing PAC on the scam, NAB chairman said his priority was to retrieve every single penny lost in the shady lease and as far as controversial role of the former military officers was concerned they were also being investigated with the due involvement of the GHQ.
Following the NAB ordinance our first duty is to engage every accused in a plea bargain to ensure recovery of lost public money, and if the gentlemen in question agreed to such an arrangement, fine, otherwise they will be penalised according to the book, the NAB chairman said.
The NAB chairman claimed that in the revised deal all loopholes left unplugged in the 2001 deal had been adequately taken care of and with the additional payment of Rs16 billion by the Country Club, the loss initially caused to the national exchequer had been fully recovered.
Answering a flurry of questions, the NAB chairman admitted that in the past the bureau had been used as a tool by rulers for political victimisation. When Hamid Yar Hiraj of the PML-Q sought the exact number of politically motivated cases currently pending with NAB, the bureau chairman said he had constituted a special committee headed by the bureaus prosecutor general to determine the exact number of such cases and he would present a detailed report to the PAC.
Mr Hiraj said he personally knew cases where NAB had been used for political victimisation and people were continuously suffering from those long pending cases.
The NAB chairman assured the committee that NAB would settle all these cases before next general elections, adding: I myself am under tremendous pressure not from my own department but from within the system, from media and above all from political parties and will try my best to address these cases on an emergency basis.
Admiral Bokhari told the PAC that NAB should be an autonomous body with absolutely no control over it by any government department.
