PAC sub-committee concerned at sale of embassy building

The sub-committee of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Friday expressed serious concern over the inquiry conducted by a three-member team of the Foreign Ministry regarding the sale of Embassy building in Jakarta in February 2002. It is pertinent to mention here that government property was disposed off in a non-transparent manner without proper advertisement or competitive bidding and even the Ambassador entered into the sale agreement without approval of the ministry.
The committee meeting was held here with Sardar Ayyaz Sadiq, MNA, in the chair along with other members including Nadeem Afzal Chan, Hamid Yar Hiraj, audit officials and representatives from the Foreign Ministry. The committee also inquired the three members of the inquiry committee including Chairman Javed Masud, Former Cabinet Secretary, Mohsin Hafeez, Joint Secretary, Raja Riaz Arshad, Joint Secretary and expressed dissatisfaction over the inquiry. The committee examined that the inquiry was conducted under coercion and undue influence of the then president who was favouring his colleague.
The committee was of the view: why was Syed Mushtaq Rizvi, Deputy Head of Chancery, who pointed out this irregularity, recalled from his post and from 2002 to 2008 till his retirement made on Officer on Special Duty (OSD)? He died during this period and his wife was also disturbed due to the psychological pressure, the committee was informed further. Nadeem Afzal Chan said that in my view it was murder.
It seems that one-sided inquiry was conducted and the tables were turned against those who had divulged the facts, the committee observed. Hence the committee directed the Ministry to write a letter of apology to Syed Mushtaq Rizvi's wife. The committee expressed dissatisfaction that the inquiry committee had not imposed any penalty on those responsible and surprisingly recommended its ex post facto approval from the competent authority.
The committee questioned why was the case not referred to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) at that time on this huge embezzlement? Audit officials claimed that gross irregularities were committed by the ambassador during the sale of the chancery building in Jakarta, but the same were later condoned by the secretariat's chief executive.
The committee was informed that the former ambassador Major General Mustafa Anwar refused to appear before the parliamentary committee in the case. The committee directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to probe the case, fix the responsibility within a month and submit the report to the committee.