ISLAMABAD: Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah on Tuesday deferred all meetings of the committee until the appointment of an auditor general of Pakistan (AGP).

But by Tuesday evening, the President’s Office had approved a summary giving acting charge of AGP to Mr Haq Nawaz, the senior-most officer of the Pakistan Audit and Accounts Service (PAAS).

On Tuesday, PAC was scheduled to take up audit reports from the ministries of National Food Security and Water and Power.

When the meeting began, Mr Shah – who is also leader of the opposition in the National Assembly – noted that since the government had yet to appoint an auditor general, the PAC could not proceed until the appointment was made.

Opposition leader says Indian spy’s conviction in accordance with law of the land

Hr said that the appointment of a new AGP should have been made soon after the retirement of Rana Assad Amin, who completed his term on April 8.

According to Mr Shah, the PAC could not convene its meetings in such a constitutional vacuum, which would leave proceedings open to be challenged before courts.

Under Article 168 of the Constitution, he said, the auditor general takes oath before assuming his office. But after Mr Amin’s retirement, his replacement was not under any oath. Therefore, he maintained, the PAC was incomplete without a regular auditor general and could not examine audit paras.

He then announced that the PAC would not meet until the appointment of a new auditor general.

Mr Shah alleged the government had delayed the AGP’s appointment since they were in search of a ‘loyal officer’.

According to the schedule issued by the PAC secretariat, the committee was due to examine the audit reports of the National Accountability Bureau, the ministries of Parliamentary Affairs, Information Technology and Defence Production on April 12, receive a briefing on the Railways ministry and legal cases on April 13, take up audit reports of the Revenue Division on April 18 and 19 and those of the ministries of Inter-Provincial Coordination and Housing on April 20.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Shah called for raising the matter of Indian spy Kalbhushan Jadhav’s at the United Nations, since he was found involved in anti-Pakistan activities.

“Now the army court has convicted him in accordance with the law of land. Military courts have also convicted Pakistani civilians on charges of terrorism, so the conviction is not a unique case,” he said.

However, he called on the government to take parliament and the people of Pakistan ob board over this issue.

The opposition leader also criticised the recent disappearances of three close aides of former president Asif Ali Zardari, terming them “extrajudicial acts”.

He said this was not a matter of the missing persons’ political affiliation, but rather the violation of constitutional provisions.

This kidnapping was carried out less than a month after parliament approved the trial of civilian suspects through military courts, he said, adding that the law had made it mandatory to produce the suspect before a magistrate within 24 hours of arrest.

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2017