Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered a forensic audit into a multi-million-rupee scandal regarding bogus stationery purchases in the Establishment Division.
This was revealed when the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) examined the audit report of the Establishment Division for 2019-20 on Wednesday.
The Establishment Division is the regulator of top bureaucracy. It is the bureaucracy’s nerve center, and its officers advise the federal government on management issues.
However, a recent audit report of the division for 2019-20 has shown gross irregularities in the procurement of stationery, which caused a loss of Rs. 48 million to the national exchequer.
According to the report, a senior official of the Establishment Division minted money through “fictitious purchase of stationery and other store items.”
The report cited General Financial Rules which state that “purchase must be made in the most economical manner by the definite requirement of the public service.”
As per the report, the Establishment Division had issued open tenders for the procurement of stationery and other store items during the financial years 2016-17 and 2017-18. A total of Rs. 48 million was spent during the financial years 2016-2019.
The acquisition was done without the purchase committee’s approval. The Establishment Division undertook an internal investigation, but the results were not shared with the audit team. In 2017, the division spent Rs. 20.3 million on stationery, followed by Rs. 21.5 million in 2018 and Rs. 6 million in 2019.
A previous report had identified a significant decrease in expenditure on the purchase of stationery during the financial year 2018-19.
The audit report held it as a grave violation of General Financial Rules.
The audit objection stemmed from a complaint to former Establishment Secretary, Ejaz Munir. However, the section officer of the Establishment Division, who had highlighted the problem, was posted out.
Chief Finance Officer, Mohammad Afzal, who had confirmed the financial irregularity and had urged higher authorities to hold an inquiry, was also transferred.
The inquiry has been pending since 2019, while the inquiry officer is proceeding abroad on a scholarship.
Establishment Division Secretary, Afzal Latif, told PAC that the internal inquiry report had been sent to the premier, who had ordered a forensic audit into the matter before taking an action against the officials responsible.
The Director-General audit told the PAC that the forensic audit had almost been completed and the report would be ready in about a week.
PAC Chairman, Rana Tanveer Hussain, said that the committee would take up the matter again after submission of the forensic report to the committee.
Via: Dawn