Interior Ministry Approved 1,110 Unauthorized Gun Licenses in 2020-21: Audit Report

The Ministry of Interior and NADRA issued unauthorized 1,110 firearm licenses during 2020-21, according to the report of the Auditor General of Pakistan.

The AGP audit report for the audit year (2021-22) revealed that Rule 11 of GFR Volume-I states that each head of a department is responsible for enforcing financial order and strict economy at every step. He is responsible for observance of all relevant financial rules and regulations both by his own office and by subordinate disbursing officers.

The management of the Ministry of Interior, Islamabad provided detail of the issuance of arms licenses which include 78 prohibited and 02 non-prohibited bore licenses during 2020-21.

The audit observed that the Ministry of Interior and NADRA provided details of arms licenses issued during 2020-21. When lists were compared, the Audit found discrepancies in the number of arms licenses provided by both MOI and NADRA. The details provided by NADRA showed that MOI approved/issued 427 arms licenses whereas MOI provided points containing only 80 (78 prohibited and 2 non-prohibited) arms licenses during the period. MOI failed to provide detail of 347 arms licenses issued without the approval of the competent authority.

The AGP is of the view that without the approval of the Ministry the issuance of 347 arms licenses indicates the absence of effective internal control which may lead to fraudulent practices. The management replied that MoI is the approving authority for the issuance of NPB and PB arms licenses; whereas, NADRA is responsible for processing MoI-approved licenses.

In the year 2020-21, NADRA processed 1190 arms licenses and their approval was granted by MoI in the years 2018- 2019, 2019-2020, and 2020-2021. The reply of the management is not accepted because the management was requested to provide detail of licenses issued during 2020-21 which was provided and stated that 78 NPB and 2 PB arms licenses were issued.

An analysis of the record provided by NADRA confirmed that during 2020- 21 total of 427 licenses were issued. Therefore, it is confirmed that a difference of 347 licenses was issued without the approval of competent authority, i.e., the Federal Government.

The AGP recommended that the matter may be inquired at a high level and responsibility be fixed for unauthorized issuance of licenses without the approval of the Federal Government, the AGP report added.



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