ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) appears to be unwilling to take action against those who were, as per its own report submitted to the Supreme Court back in January, accused of swindling more than Rs80 billion by increasing the wellhead price of a firm’s gas pricing and backing stay orders issued by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) against gas theft cases resulting in unprecedented “unaccounted for gas” (UFG) losses.
Sources privy to the development told The News that the Supreme Court had dismissed Ogra Chairman Tauqir Sadiq on the above-mentioned charges, but the NAB remains hesitant to take action against him. In the NAB report submitted to the Supreme Court, incumbent Ogra members Mansoor Muzaffar, Mir Kamal Marri and several of their cronies were also found to be guilty.
Sources attested to the fact that while the NAB had prepared the respective arrest warrants, the Bureau’s Prosecutor General (PG) was not giving his consent due to his political allegiance with the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
The NAB’s delay in taking required action is a blatant breach of the order issued by Justice Jawwad Khawaja of the Supreme Court. The said bench had earlier issued specific instructions directing the NAB to take immediate action against the culprits even though the case had been shifted to a larger bench.
Zafar Iqbal, Additional Director NAB, when contacted, said that the matter was still subjudice, even though the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 meant that there was enough of a framework to proceed.
In response to a question, the official said that Tauqir Sadiq and others accused were very much a part of the ongoing investigations and were co-operating with the NAB, so currently there was no question of arresting them. He did affirm, however, that in case suspicion arose that the accused were about to go underground or flee the country, the NAB chairman would issue their arrest warrants.
He added currently the NAB was in a process of strengthening court-worthy evidence in light of its own preliminary report which would be tabled in the next hearing before either the existing bench or the larger bench of the SC, and after the apex court gave its verdict the NAB would religiously comply with those orders.
On RPPs, Zafar Iqbal maintained the Supreme Court had issued orders seeking a retrieval of the said amount from the RPPs given to them by the government. “[The] NAB has complied with the orders,” he affirmed.
Although, the accused deny charges against them, the NAB report states that Ogra Chairman Tauqir Sadiqís cited professional experience was not only a falsification, but the procedure of his appointment itself was irregular because it was done in such a casual and negligent manner and in a flagrant “disregard [of] the rules and due diligence required for such a high stature position.”
The report submitted by the NAB with the Supreme Court also reveals that the conversion of gas utilitiesí operating income into non-operating income was another glaring example of the misuse of authority and illegal decisions taken by the former Ogra chief, once again in violation of the federal government practice that has been in vogue for the past two decades.
Tauqir Sadiq, along with other Ogra members, allegedly relaxed the ceiling for unaccounted for gas (UFG) from 5 per cent to 7 per cent, causing a loss of Rs52 billion in the oil and gas sector.
The report further notes that in about five cases of gas theft, Ogra members issued stay orders despite the fact that, as per body regulations, they did not have the authority to entertain these cases particularly when the designated office had already established the theft. The report claimed that the former Ogra chief and other officials had blatantly misused their authority in the illegal relocation of CNG stations despite a ban on new CNG stations as well.
The chairman ñ who exceeded his powers to decide the matter on a case-to-case basis according to his own whims and wishes that were both discretionary and arbitrary ñ simply had not adhered to government guidelines.
The report stipulated that the former Ogra chief had illegally created unauthorised posts in his office and had appointed about 50 officers, including his nephew, without following transparency and government policy parameters.It said Ogra had paid legal and professional charges of Rs17 million over the past two years, out of which more than Rs13 million was paid to lawyers appointed from the approved panel.
The report found financial irregularities in the establishment of the Ogra chairman’s office, discrimination in the provision of training facilities, non-compliance of minutes of meetings held at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, harassment of Ogra staff and to top it all off an illegal inquiry against two Ogra members forcing them to resign.
The report concluded: “The detailed analysis of change of site cases, order of injunction in theft cases, increase in wellhead price, change of operating income to non-operating income and [an] increase in the UFG benchmark resulted in the loss of billions of rupees. All these decisions taken by former Ogra chairman Tauqir Sadiq and members concerned (Kamal Marri and Mansoor Muzaffar) show how public interest was compromised, facts were twisted and authority was misused.”
The report recommended the need for further scrutiny of records for the sake of deliberation and to substantiate calls to convert the inquiry into an investigation. It is therefore extremely sad and unfortunate that the same NAB is now showing its reluctance to take action against the very culprits it found guilty only a few months ago.
Sources privy to the development told The News that the Supreme Court had dismissed Ogra Chairman Tauqir Sadiq on the above-mentioned charges, but the NAB remains hesitant to take action against him. In the NAB report submitted to the Supreme Court, incumbent Ogra members Mansoor Muzaffar, Mir Kamal Marri and several of their cronies were also found to be guilty.
Sources attested to the fact that while the NAB had prepared the respective arrest warrants, the Bureau’s Prosecutor General (PG) was not giving his consent due to his political allegiance with the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
The NAB’s delay in taking required action is a blatant breach of the order issued by Justice Jawwad Khawaja of the Supreme Court. The said bench had earlier issued specific instructions directing the NAB to take immediate action against the culprits even though the case had been shifted to a larger bench.
Zafar Iqbal, Additional Director NAB, when contacted, said that the matter was still subjudice, even though the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 meant that there was enough of a framework to proceed.
In response to a question, the official said that Tauqir Sadiq and others accused were very much a part of the ongoing investigations and were co-operating with the NAB, so currently there was no question of arresting them. He did affirm, however, that in case suspicion arose that the accused were about to go underground or flee the country, the NAB chairman would issue their arrest warrants.
He added currently the NAB was in a process of strengthening court-worthy evidence in light of its own preliminary report which would be tabled in the next hearing before either the existing bench or the larger bench of the SC, and after the apex court gave its verdict the NAB would religiously comply with those orders.
On RPPs, Zafar Iqbal maintained the Supreme Court had issued orders seeking a retrieval of the said amount from the RPPs given to them by the government. “[The] NAB has complied with the orders,” he affirmed.
Although, the accused deny charges against them, the NAB report states that Ogra Chairman Tauqir Sadiqís cited professional experience was not only a falsification, but the procedure of his appointment itself was irregular because it was done in such a casual and negligent manner and in a flagrant “disregard [of] the rules and due diligence required for such a high stature position.”
The report submitted by the NAB with the Supreme Court also reveals that the conversion of gas utilitiesí operating income into non-operating income was another glaring example of the misuse of authority and illegal decisions taken by the former Ogra chief, once again in violation of the federal government practice that has been in vogue for the past two decades.
Tauqir Sadiq, along with other Ogra members, allegedly relaxed the ceiling for unaccounted for gas (UFG) from 5 per cent to 7 per cent, causing a loss of Rs52 billion in the oil and gas sector.
The report further notes that in about five cases of gas theft, Ogra members issued stay orders despite the fact that, as per body regulations, they did not have the authority to entertain these cases particularly when the designated office had already established the theft. The report claimed that the former Ogra chief and other officials had blatantly misused their authority in the illegal relocation of CNG stations despite a ban on new CNG stations as well.
The chairman ñ who exceeded his powers to decide the matter on a case-to-case basis according to his own whims and wishes that were both discretionary and arbitrary ñ simply had not adhered to government guidelines.
The report stipulated that the former Ogra chief had illegally created unauthorised posts in his office and had appointed about 50 officers, including his nephew, without following transparency and government policy parameters.It said Ogra had paid legal and professional charges of Rs17 million over the past two years, out of which more than Rs13 million was paid to lawyers appointed from the approved panel.
The report found financial irregularities in the establishment of the Ogra chairman’s office, discrimination in the provision of training facilities, non-compliance of minutes of meetings held at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, harassment of Ogra staff and to top it all off an illegal inquiry against two Ogra members forcing them to resign.
The report concluded: “The detailed analysis of change of site cases, order of injunction in theft cases, increase in wellhead price, change of operating income to non-operating income and [an] increase in the UFG benchmark resulted in the loss of billions of rupees. All these decisions taken by former Ogra chairman Tauqir Sadiq and members concerned (Kamal Marri and Mansoor Muzaffar) show how public interest was compromised, facts were twisted and authority was misused.”
The report recommended the need for further scrutiny of records for the sake of deliberation and to substantiate calls to convert the inquiry into an investigation. It is therefore extremely sad and unfortunate that the same NAB is now showing its reluctance to take action against the very culprits it found guilty only a few months ago.