ISLAMABAD: Despite an outstanding audit para about irregular or unlawful spending of about Rs5 million against former foreign secretary and incumbent Ambassador to Washington Jalil Abbas Jilani, he has got mandatory clearance to draw his pension and other retirement-related benefits, Dawn has learnt.

In bureaucratic jargon an audit para regarding irregular or unlawful spending by a government official stands pending even after his/her death until settled at the levels of the department concerned or the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly, but in Mr Jilani’s case this rule was ignored.

Mr Jilani, who retired as grade-22 officer of the Foreign Office in February this year, received all his benefits without having cleared the audit objections. As per the official requirement, he cannot draw his gratuity and later monthly pension as long as the audit para stands against him. And according official documents seen by Dawn, “at least one audit para of Rs4.852m is still pending against him”.

This raises serious questions about the way the ambassador was given special treatment by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Auditor General of Pakistan when government rules don’t allow such laxity.

“Under whatever pretext, no retiring government officer could be allowed to draw his gratuity and pension until he/she clears audit objections,” said a senior AGP official who didn’t want to be named. Many in the foreign ministry have also expressed surprise over the matter.

When contacted, FO’s Director General Audit Kashif Noor said he would be able to say something only after routing the matter through the AGP office.

Similarly, Additional Auditor General Jamal Abdul Nasir Usmani, who is holding the charge of formal spokesperson for the AGP office, promised to get back with the required information. But after a day’s break, his only answer was “no comments”.

Mr Jilani had audit observations of serious nature about Rs7m which included charges of availing himself of financial benefits over and above his entitlement. As many as eight audit paras were reported by auditors which Mr Jilani was required to get cleared after reaching his superannuation earlier this year to be able to receive pension and other benefits.

A government official who has direct knowledge of audit observations against the former foreign secretary said: “One main audit objection against Mr Jilani about unlawful payment of Rs4.852m stands pending but he has been given clearance which leads to payment of all his retirement-related dues.”

Mr Jilani, who is a close relative of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, was appointed foreign secretary in March 2012. He was also given the additional charge of ambassador to Belgium which he held for almost seven months, till September that year, and continued to draw full salary as ambassador.

As per government rules, he was entitled to draw the salary of his principal position (federal secretary), not for the additional assignment (ambassador to Belgium).

Mr Jilani had received Rs4.852m for his seven-month ambassadorial duty. Official correspondence made on the issue and seen by Dawn showed that the officials concerned at the audit department and the finance ministry had objected to the payment of salary to Mr Jilani during the period.

One such correspondence stated: “The officer (Mr Jilani) was entitled to the pay and allowances of secretary foreign affairs plus 10 per cent of basic pay subject to the maximum of Rs3,000 per month as additional charge allowance of the post of ambassador.”

The reason was obvious. According to the official, the salary of an ambassador includes many allowances in foreign currency and is much more than that of the federal secretary back home.

Other audit objections against Mr Jilani included excessive payments made on two occasions on account of transportation charges of personal staff, worth Rs945,527 and Rs945,530; unauthorised expenditures incurred on payment of air tickets worth Rs233,688; and non-adjustment of TA/DA advance of Rs134,551.

Despite repeated attempts, FO spokesperson Qazi Khalillulah could not be contacted for his comment on the matter.

For one of Mr Jilani’s colleagues, although clearance of deliberate or inadvertent overspending is a normal practice which every retiring government officer has to go through, the amount mentioned in the paras about Mr Jilani is staggering. “This is not corruption, but irregular use of public funds, which the retiring official either has to justify or return to the national kitty.”

He said one of the issues to be investigated in this case was why the then head of chancery in Brussels allowed the release of money to Mr Jilani after he was posted as secretary of foreign affairs. The other is that when the officials concerned at the finance ministry and AGP had timely flagged the issue, why Mr Jilani conveniently ignored it.

For a senior FO official, it’s a case of wilful commission at the highest level which should not go unnoticed.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2015