Privitization Commission told Senate Standing Committee on Rules of Procedures and Privileges that it does not have any record of privatisation of a bank. The Standing Committee expressed strong displeasure at the Finance Ministry and Privatisation Commission for not providing correct and complete information to the Senate.
The Committee met with Senator Colonel Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi (Retd) in the chair at Parliament House. State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmed, Senators Mian Raza Rabbani, Saeed Ghani, Abdur Rauf, Secretary Finance-Waqar Masood, Secretary Privatisation-Sardar Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera and others participated in the meeting.
The Committee discussed the privilege motion of Senator Saeed Ghani against the Finance Ministry and Privatisation Commission for not providing complete information to the upper house of the parliament. Senator Saeed Ghani in his question had sought complete information of all cases of privatisation and details of actions that were taken by the government since 1990 till date from Finance Ministry and Privatisation Commission.
Ghani told the Committee that first the Privatisation Commission had informed the House on his query that as many as 14 privatisation cases are being investigated by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and five by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). He said he once again submitted a query on the privatisation of a bank. The concerned ministry told the House that there are 12 cases of privatisation. Secretary Privatisation Commission Sardar Ahmed Nawaz told the Committee that the answer was the same to the second question. He said that that was privatised in 1990 while Privatisation Commission was established in 1991.
The members of the Committee showed serious concern at the reply of Privatisation Commission and Finance Ministry and said that it is the duty of the institutions to provide correct and complete information to the House. The Chairman of the Committee said that billions of rupees are being spent on FIA and NAB but there is no visible performance.
Raza Rabbani claimed that the investigating report on that bank is being concealed deliberately. He said the institutions are not providing correct and complete information to the House. Rabbani said that Privatisation Commission could collect information on privatisation of that bank from other institutions. Finance Secretary Waqar Masood told the Committee that the question of Senator Ghani related to privatisation and Finance Ministry sent to it to the Privatisation Division. State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmed said that it is the responsibility of the institutions to provide correct information to the Senate.
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