Members of Standing Committee, Kashmala Tariq, Khawaja Sohail Mansoor, Yasmin Rehman and Tahira Auranzeb raised a number of questions over the NICL scam which is currently being heard by the Supreme of Pakistan. Chairman of the committee maintained that the committee had held a number of meetings on this scam but did not reach any conclusion, adding that the time had come for the committee to finalise its recommendations. Yasmin Rehman asked Additional Secretary Commerce Karmran Qureshi why, given that a Commerce Secretary is Principal Accounting Officer, he closed his eyes on this matter.
Additional Secretary tried to shift the responsibility to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) but Yasmin Rehman argued that Commerce Secretary was also a member on the Board of SECP. An insider told Business Recorder that Secretary Commerce deliberately did not attend any meeting of the SECP Board wherein the issues of NICL came under discussion. He argued that Additional Secretary Commerce tried to shift the whole responsibility of wrongdoings in NICL to SECP as the former Secretary Commerce, Zafar Mahmood tried to protect the Minister.
Kashmala Tariq enquired why Commerce Ministry did not take action against former Commerce Secretary Salman Ghani, to which Additional Secretary Commerce had no answer. "Commerce Ministry cheated us on a number of occasions. Why action has not been taken against Salman Ghani," she added. She maintained that politicians were being maligned in different scandals whereas bureaucracy protected its colleagues and even allowed them to flee the country.
The Additional Secretary Commerce requested Kashmala Tariq to express whatever she wanted before or after the meeting. Khawaja Mansoor Sohail, MQM MNA, enquired from the FIA team about the action it had taken against Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim, as Rs 419 million of NICL were transferred into the accounts of Makhdoom Amin Faim, his wife and son. According to him, reports suggest that Commerce Secretary, Zafar Mahmood had been transferred because he wrote a letter to FIA to register a separate case to investigate appointment of Ayaz Khan Niazi, ex-Chairman NICL who is considered as the principal accused in Rs 6 billion NICL scam.
He further queried why sons of top guns (reference to Moonis Elahi) were allowed to stay in Nadra Rest House during detention. He also enquired how Amin Qasim Dada, a member of NICL board, fled the country despite the fact that his name was on Exist Control List (ECL). Tariq Iqbal Puri, Chief Executive, TDAP, who is holding additional charge of NICL Chairman, explained to the committee about the scam and its latest status.
Replying to a question, FIA, Additional Director, Qadir Qureshi apprised the committee that the Commerce Minister had been questioned by the FIA and in this regard a report had been submitted to the Supreme Court. According to an official statement, Additional Director FIA and Additional Secretary Commerce briefed the committee on the current status of investigation in the NICL scandal. Addl. Secretary Commerce contended that Securities and Exchange Commission and not the Ministry was responsible for supervising NICL. The committee rejected his interpretation.
Yasmeen Rahman, MNA, also a member of Public Accounts Committee (PAC), informed the Committee that the PAC had established unequivocally that Principal Accounting Officer of each Ministry was responsible for sub-departments. During a vigorous discussion, Committee members expressed intense dissatisfaction over the fact that Ministry of Commerce had not only failed to perform its administrative oversight of NICL, but had also failed to prosecute higher officers of the Commerce Ministry, ministers, and sons of influential politicians implicated in the NICL scam. The Committee decided to summon the Minister, former Secretary, Additional Secretaries of Ministry of Commerce and Chairman SECP.
The committee discussed in detail the trade policy with India. Members expressed their concern that government was not prepared for the massive changes to Pakistan economy due to trade liberalisation with India and had also failed to prepare the Pakistani public, traders, and industrialists in that regard. The committee discussed a legal recourse available to Pakistan as defence against probable dumping of goods by Indian manufacturers and also questioned if there were any quantitative evidence about negative consequences on Pakistan's pharmaceutical, chemical, steel, and automobile sectors.
The members of the committee also shared their personal experience of facing barriers to exporting goods to India, and questioned whether India had so far offered any tangible concession beyond policy pronouncements. Additional Secretary Commerce briefed the Committee that Indian cabinet had approved an agreement that granted parity and recognition respectively to Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), but this was yet to be signed into effect.