Corruption of millions of rupees
ISLAMABAD: The ruling PML-N came under the radar of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which launched an inquiry against Punjab Minister for Education, Sports and Youth Affairs Rana Mashood Khan on charges of corruption, corrupt practices and misuse of authority in holding a sports festival on Thursday.At the same time, the NAB also initiated two investigations against former Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf for awarding two rental power plants to M/s Reshma Power Generation Limited (RPGL) near Manga (Raiwind Road, Lesco area) and to M/s Young Gen Power Ltd at the Satiyana Road, Faisalabad.
The decision was taken in a meeting of the Executive Board of the NAB, held with NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry in the chair, here on Thursday.It was the first inquiry launched against a PML-N leader who is also a provincial minister in the cabinet of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
According to sources, the NAB Lahore has taken away all the record of the Punjab festival in a bid to initiate the inquiry against Rana Mashood Khan.The Executive Board of the NAB also decided to launch an investigation against formerprime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf for awarding the rental Power Plant Project to M/s Reshma Power Generation (Pvt) Limited.
The other co-accused in the multi-million scam are Shahid Rafi, ex-secretary Water & Power and others. In this case, the accused were charged with corruption, corrupt practices and misuse of authority while awarding 220MW Rental Power project (RPP) contract to M/s Reshma Power Generation Limited (RPGL), thus causing a loss of Rs892.609 million to the national exchequer.
The second investigation was authorised against M/s Young Gen Power Ltd, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Shahid Rafi, former secretary water & power, Fazal Ahmad Khan, MD Pakistan Electric Power Company (Private) Ltd (PEPCO), Rafiq Butt, ex-CEO Northern Power Generation Company (NPGCL), Ejaz Babar, ex-finance director NPGCL and others.
In this case, the accused persons were charged with corruption, corrupt practices and misuse of authority in the award of 150MW Rental Power Project (RPP) contract to M/s Young Gen Power Ltd at the Satiyana Road, Faisalabad, thus causing a loss of Rs435.7 million to the national exchequer.
Another investigation was authorised against officers/officials namely Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan (AWKUM), namely Dr Ihsan Ali, Vice Chancellor (VC) AWKUM, Prof Sher Ali Khan, ex-Registrar, Dr. Muhammad Amin, ex-director Planning & Development, Pir Abdul Jabbar, ex-controller examination, AWKUM, and others.
In this case, the accused persons were alleged of misusing authority for allegedly appointing 700 employees (BS 1-16) and BS-17 and above both in teaching and non-teaching cadres without completion of codal formalities.
The fourth investigation was authorised against officers/officials of the Board of Revenue (BOR), Land Utilisation Department (LUD), Sindh, CDGK and others. In this case, the accused persons were alleged of making fake allotments of an amenity plot (six acres) in Deh Dih Na Class 24 by tampering with documents and illegal change of land from industrial to industrial/residential without approval from chief minister Sindh, the competent authority, thus causing a loss of Rs200 million to the national exchequer.
The Executive Board also authorised an inquiry against officers of CDA and others. In this case, CDA sold commercial plots without an open auction and without completing all the codal formalities.
Another inquiry was authorised against the officers of the National Highway Authority (NHA) regarding the Okara Bypass Project. In this case, the accused persons were accused of unjustified payment on account of seed money of Rs200 million, over payment of Rs123.9 million on account of defective design and excess payment for inbuilt items of Rs33.5 million and extra expenditures of Rs53.1 million due to deletion of toll plaza from approved contract, thus causing loss of Rs410 million to the national exchequer.
The EBM decided to authorise complaint verification against officers/officials of FBR in issuance and subsequent withdrawal of Circular No6 of 2009 as well as SRO1003 of 2011 issued by the FBR.
The Board approved the plea bargain request of Syed Masoom Shah, special assistant to ex-chief minister, KP, in case of accumulation of assets beyond known sources of income amounting to Rs258.75 million.The chairman NAB stressed upon the NAB officers for showing an extra zeal and efforts in nabbing the corrupt and bringing culprits to justice.
—Published in The News