January 19, 2007	Friday	Zilhaj 28, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 18: A sub-committee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday could not decide whether to relieve the Motorway police in a Rs98 million alleged scandal related to the purchase of imported vehicles.

Lack of consensus emerged between the government and opposition members over the issue. The sub-committee was headed by the ruling party MNA Tanvir Hussain Syed while Qurban Ali Shah of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was also present on the occasion.

Mr Shah was of the view that the audit department had found irregularities in the purchase of nine imported five-door Land Cruiser jeeps and 34 Suzuki motorcycles. The Rs98 million deal by the Motorway police in 2000-01, was in breach of the prescribed procedure approved by the then country Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf, he added.

But Mr Syed did not agree to Mr Shah’s opinion and concluded that no mala fide intentions were behind the deal, leaving the issue to be tackled by the main committee in its next meeting.

Earlier, the sub-committee kicked off a heated debate on various aspects of the controversial deal. After split over the first point of the agenda, the review of the remaining three points was delayed till the next meeting likely to be held in the first week of the next month.

The third member of the sub-committee, Muttahida Majlis-i- Amal’s Hafiz Hussain Ahmed could not attend the meeting as he was on boycott of the National Assembly and its committees after the announcement of his resignation.

The PAC has formed a sub-committee after the audit department detected the alleged irregularities by the Motorway police.

According to the audit department, the Chief Executive had approved the purchase of locally manufactured five-door jeeps. Special permission was required in case of purchase of imported vehicles, which was not sought.

Mr Syed told the committee that the Chief Executive did not know that the five-door jeeps were not manufactured locally.

Qurban Ali Shah noted in his dissent note that the replies given in response to the audit objections by the Motorway police were not tenable as the department had failed to prove the permission for purchase of imported vehicles.

He said that such expensive vehicles were not required in a country where one-third of the population was living below the poverty-line and people were selling their kidneys to pay their debts.