ISLAMABAD - The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday said it has recovered Rs602.95 million from the illegal Mudarba companies out of which Rs14.5 million have been distributed amongst the affectees.
The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue has directed the NAB to provide details on the matter in writing within 15 days for information. In Mudarba case, more than 10,000 people had been affected by the scam worth Rs8.2 billion.
The committee met at the Parliament House under the Chairmanship of Senator Saleem Mandviwalla. The committee, besides some other issues, also considered different Bills referred by the House for consideration and report. The committee unanimously recommended that the companies (appointment of legal advisers) Bill, 2016, may be passed by the Senate with two amendments proposed by the committee.
A private member’s Bill “Protection of Economic Reforms (Amendments), Bill, 2016, introduced by the Senator Saleem Mandiviwalla. The committee observed that there is a need to keep check on the foreign currency accounts. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), however, opposed the proposed Bill on the plea that the legal mechanism already exists in the relevant rules and also covered under AML Act. However, the committee deferred further consideration on the Bill till today’s meeting with the direction that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) may be invited to give its point of view on the said Bill.
Another Private member Bill titled the Corporate Rehabilitation Bill, 2015, introduced by the committee chairman, on referral back by the House, reconsidered by the committee and the committee recommended that this Bill may be passed by the Senate. The report of the committee will be presented to the House in the next session.
The committee also considered the status of the recommendations made by it and adopted by the House on the Finance Bill, 2016. The Ministry of Finance secretary briefed the committee on the issue and informed that 46 out of 139 recommendations were implemented, while 12 were partially implemented and 22 are in implementation process.
The committee deferred discussion in the agenda items pertaining to FBR on their request to a future meeting. While considering the inclusion of transgender in the new census form, the Statics Division informed that proper arrangement has already been made in the census form and a column with entry No 3 has been included in the form. The committee showed its satisfaction on the issue. The meeting was attended by Senators Nasreen Jalil, Sardar Fateh Muhammad Hassani, Mohsin Aziz, Kamil Ali Agha, and Mohsin Khan Leghari.