By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A Senate committee decided on Thursday to brief Pakistan’s prime minister on alleged irregularities and corruption in foreign-funded power sector projects, and to ask two federal investigative agencies directly to open inquiries, after the government’s Economic Affairs Division said it lacked the authority to order a probe into projects run by another ministry.
The Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Division, chaired by Senator Saifullah Abro, voted unanimously to write to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), seeking inquiries into two projects under the Power Division as well as other foreign-funded schemes.
The decision followed a heated exchange over a letter from an Economic Affairs Division (EAD) section officer, which stated that the matter fell outside the committee’s jurisdiction.
Senator Kamran Murtaza said he was displeased that the letter had been sent at all, and told the committee it needed to first settle whether it had the authority to proceed. He said that if the panel lacked jurisdiction, there would be little point in continuing the meeting.
Senator Kamil Ali Agha said the letter appeared designed to create confusion and divert attention from what he described as significant irregularities and corruption the committee had identified in foreign-funded projects across the country. He said the letter reflected an adversarial approach toward parliamentary oversight and could undermine efforts to ensure transparency and proper use of foreign funds.
Agha said the Senate’s constitutional role was to monitor state institutions, and that the wording of the letter suggested officials who arranged foreign loans believed they alone should decide how the money was spent, without parliamentary scrutiny.
Abro asked EAD Secretary Humair Karim directly whether he was satisfied with the content and tone of the letter. Karim accepted full responsibility for it, but said it was not intended to show disrespect toward parliament, adding that Senate recommendations had always been implemented.
Karim said the committee had earlier directed his division to write to the FIA and NAB on matters concerning the Power Division, but that the EAD could not send such a letter regarding another ministry without first seeking a legal opinion from the law ministry on the correct procedure under the Rules of Business. He acknowledged the letter could have been worded with more care.
Murtaza said Karim’s acceptance of responsibility implied the committee itself had overstepped its authority, though he said the panel had no objection to the ministry seeking legal advice and would respect the opinion once it was issued. He credited the secretary for owning the matter.
Murtaza said foreign loans were largely spent on projects in Punjab, while the financial burden from cost overruns and corruption fell on other provinces, including Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said project designs were frequently changed after loans were approved, that no action was taken against those responsible, and that contract prices were often set artificially low at the outset so they could be raised later.
Senator Dilawar Khan said the committee had found major irregularities in foreign-funded projects and that while the EAD arranges the borrowing, implementation is the responsibility of the ministries executing the work. He questioned why the EAD needed a legal opinion rather than simply acting on the committee’s recommendations, and said the ministry’s mandate under the Rules of Business, 1973, was a matter of internal administrative procedure that did not require outside legal advice to carry out a Senate committee’s directives.
Abro said allegations of corruption in foreign-funded projects had already been established in earlier committee sessions attended by EAD officials, and that the panel had previously instructed the division to refer corruption-related projects to NAB and the FIA. He said the committee had the authority to refer matters directly to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), NAB and the FIA itself, but had asked the EAD to do so instead in order to reinforce its own oversight role.
He noted that the prime minister had suspended nine senior officers and four board members of the National Highway Authority based on the committee’s findings, without first seeking a legal opinion from the law ministry.
Abro warned that the committee would note, in its formal communication to the PAC, NAB and FIA, that both the EAD and the Power Division had failed to cooperate. He said senior EAD management bore responsibility for institutional accountability and effective governance, and directed the division to instruct its officials to cooperate fully with parliamentary committees rather than create procedural obstacles.
Senators Mahmoodul Hassan, Syed Waqar Mehdi, Kamran Murtaza, Kamil Ali Agha, Haji Hidayatullah Khan and Ahmed Khan proposed that the committee’s findings and recommendations be sent to the prime minister, the PAC, NAB and the FIA for action.
The committee also directed the EAD to submit, within three days, all correspondence exchanged with the relevant ministry along with an implementation report, which will likewise be forwarded to the prime minister, the PAC, NAB and the FIA.
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