ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday filed a reference in an accountability court against former ambassador retired Maj Gen Syed Mustafa Anwer Husain for selling the chancery building in Jakarta at a throwaway price.

The reference alleges that Mr Husain, the former ambassador to Indonesia, also violated the procedure to sell the building. The reference is based on a complaint filed by Dr Qaiser Rashid.

According to the NAB investigation, Mr Husain, after his posting as ambassador of Pakistan to Indonesia, started work on disposing of Pakistan government-owned properties in Jakarta. The former ambassador without approval of the foreign affairs ministry/government appointed M/s Palma Citra Permai to work as agent/broker for sale of the chancery building.

The investigation also claims that the accused with mala fide intentions, through an official letter dated August 8, 2001, submitted a proposal regarding sale of properties into two phases. Mr Husain, through his own sources, communicated an estimated sale price to the foreign affairs ministry without calling quotations through advertisements in violation of rules and procedure and exerted pressure on the ministry to grant him permission for sale of the properties.

PAC was unhappy why anti-graft watchdog didn’t take action against Anwer

The Public Accounts Committee had in 2016 taken up this issue and criticised NAB for not filing a reference against the former ambassador, who was said to be a friend of the then military ruler retired General Pervez Musharraf.

According to an audit report, retired Gen Husain had sold the chancery building in February 2002, causing a loss of $1.32 million to the national exchequer. It said that “the property was disposed of in a non-transparent manner i.e. without advertisement in the press for competitive bidding or inviting sealed bids.”

After the sale sparked a controversy, “the ministry of foreign affairs moved a summary to the chief executive (Gen Musharraf), requesting that the ambassador be instructed to annul the sale agreement and a high-level inquiry committee be sent to Jakarta” for an investigation.

On May 16, 2002, Gen Musharraf approved the sale of the building.

The NAB reference alleges that retired Gen Husain, without having any authority, entered into an agreement for sale of the chancery building and kept this hidden from the ministry.

However, the accused “in order to save his skin, through his letter dated April 10, 2002, approached the office of the chief executive of Pakistan bypassing the ministry of foreign affairs to get approval regarding sale of chancery building”, the reference states, adding that Gen Musharraf had constituted a committee to probe the matter which found the former ambassador at fault.

The reference points out that the evaluation of the chancery building was carried out by the embassy of Pakistan through M/s Ray White. “The report established that the accused by selling the property has caused loss of $1.32 million to the national exchequer,” it says.

According to NAB, “the accused has committed the offence of corruption and corrupt practices” as defined in the National Accountability Ordinance.

The bureau requested the court to try and punish the accused in accordance with the law.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2020