ISLAMABAD, July 3: The ad-hoc Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday ordered for the settlement of a large number of audit objections in which millions of rupees were either misappropriated or misused by the officials.

In one case, the committee asked the Principal Accounting Officer (PAO) of the science and technology ministry to complete within 60 days the report of embezzlement of Rs0.709 million, which the ex-director general of national institute of silicon technology, Attique Mufti, had drawn illegally without assigning any tangible reason.

H. U. Baig chaired the PAC meeting which was also attended by its members, high officials of auditor general of Pakistan and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The committee was informed that the official had been handling the accounts by himself being head of department by associating an accountant under threat. The accountant, who was present in the committee said, the official had given him in writing while getting his signatures on financial transactions that all responsibility would lie on him.

The attitude of the committee members appeared to be running the business in a cordial atmosphere as they involved themselves in cross talks at times and one of them even rose from his seat in middle of proceedings to meet a couple of officials from the ministry there to defend their audit paras. The same official was found to have drawn an amount of Rs. 0.060 million from NIST account when he was an employ of Pakistan Science foundation.No recovery has been made from him.