ISLAMABAD, July 5: People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) Senator Farhatullah Babar on Tuesday said the party had filed a case in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the bureau’s former chairman, Lt-Gen (retired) Amjad, on charges of corruption. Speaking at a news conference with MNA Nayyar Bokhari, MPA Amir Fida Piracha and members of the PPP Legal Committee Shah Khawar and Chaudhry Aslam, the PPP senator said the party had taken Fauji Foundation Chairman Lt-Gen (retired) Amjad to NAB for alleged corruption in the sale of Khoski Sugar Mill, owned by the Foundation.

Senator Babar said the government itself told the National Assembly on April 21 this year that the Khoski Sugar Mill was sold by the Fauji Foundation (FF) in 2004 at Rs300 million to an enterprise against the highest bid of Rs387 million.

He said the parliamentary secretary for defence Maj (retired) Tanvir Hussain had also told the house that the entity to which it was sold had not even participated in the bidding process. The parliamentary secretary stated that the defence ministry had ordered a high level inquiry into the matter, he said.

Mr Babar said after about two weeks, the FF placed an advertisement in newspapers rejecting the allegation of corruption in the sugar mill deal. The PPP senator said again the parliamentary secretary for defence stated on the floor of the house that the FF had committed a breach of parliament’s privilege by issuing this advertisement.

Mr Babar said the PPP also requisitioned a meeting of the Senate committee on defence and demanded that the FF chairman be summoned to answer questions, but Gen (retired) Amjad publicly refused to appear before it. Later, he said, the ministry of defence informed the Senate that the FF was a private body and could not be probed by it.

The PPP senator said the FF was not a private organization as Gen Amjad was appointed as its managing director in April 2002 while in uniform and his appointment order was issued by the GHQ. Moreover, he said, the working of the FF was overseen by a committee comprising the defence secretary as its chairman.

Mr Babar said the FF scam was a test case for the government and NAB to prove their credibility and to prove that they were serious in their claims of carrying out across-the-board accountability.

Replying to a question, Mr Babar said the PPP demanded the accountability of Nazims but at the same time wanted that it should not be made an excuse for postponing the local government elections.