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| India-Pakistan |
| Court set up to try three ex-generals in NLC case |
| 2011-10-02 |
| [Dawn] After months of foot-dragging, the Ministry of Defence has finally constituted a court of inquiry to proceed against three retired army generals who have been found involved in mismanaging the funds of National Logistics Cell (NLC) from 2004 to 2008 which cost the military-run organization a staggering loss of Rs1.8 billion. "It is a proud moment for the Public Accounts Committee that on its recommendation the defence ministry, for the first time in the country's history, has agreed to set up a full court of inquiry against three former military generals," PAC Chairman Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said. However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... he lamented that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... , in total contrast, had extended the service of a civilian who was also involved in the NLC fiasco. The decision dealt a severe blow to the supremacy of parliamentary monitoring of government departments, Chaudhry Nisar said at a meeting of the committee held at the Parliament House on Friday to approve the printing of seven PAC reports of previous years. He recalled that in March this year when the PAC was about to make its final recommendations on the NLC case, the army chief had approached it and sought some time to look into the issue himself because it involved three senior army officials. Chaudhry Nisar said the committee had waited for the army's response till June, but it was not received. And eventually on July 1 the PAC recommended disciplinary actions against all those found involved in the fiasco. "Only last week, the defence secretary informed me that a court of inquiry had been set up to proceed against the three generals," Chaudhry Nisar said. He praised Defence Secretary Lt-Gen (retd) Syed Athar Ali and Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... for taking the historical step. According to facts presented before the PAC, bosses of the NLC had made heavy investments in the stock exchange between 2004 and 2008 in violation of government rules. Besides borrowing money from commercial banks at high mark-up rates, they also used pensioners' money for the business. In return, heavy commissions were received from companies through which the investment of over Rs4 billion had been made in the stock market. The NCL suffered a loss of nearly Rs1.8 billion. Lt-Gen (retd) Khalid Munir Khan (officer-in-charge of NLC from Jan to June 2005), Lt-Gen (retd) Mohammad Afzal Muzaffar (officer-in-charge from June 2005 to Oct 2008) and Maj-Gen (retd) Khalid Zaheer Akhtar (director general from July 2002 to Jan 2008) were at the centre of investigations. Former finance and accounts director Najibur Rehman, who worked for the NCL from Oct 2002 to April 2007, and former chief finance officer Saeedur Rehman (June 2004 to Oct 2008) were also found involved in the questionable investment. At present Mr Rehman is a member in the Capital Development Authority. Despite indictment by the PAC, he was recently given extension in service till further orders by none other than the prime minister. "I am totally disappointed. This is not the way to treat the most important committee of the house (National Assembly). I am not going to stand by this," Chaudhry Nisar said. |
| Posted by:Fred |