ISLAMABAD - Jamshed Dasti found empty liquor bottles inside the Parliament Lodges and now finds himself empty-handed after a special parliamentary committee has concluded that his claims are baseless.
Dasti, however, feels that it is a ‘cover-up’ aimed at providing a clean chit to those fellow lawmakers who are allegedly involved in questionable activities.
The seven-member parliamentary body in its first three proceedings has almost dismissed the allegations levelled by an independent lawmaker. But three more committee meetings are likely to be held to form code of ethics, sources in special parliamentary committee shared with The Nation.
“The parliamentary committee is not only examining the evidences but also ascertaining the reasons of such allegations by an independent MNA,” said a committee member, who asked to withhold his name. The member said the evidences were not sufficient to prove these allegations but still probe was under way. “We have checked previous records and are also investigating even gatekeepers through cross-questioning,” the parliamentary committee member said.
The committee has also reached on consensus that the place of the dance party could not be established in the video clips.
The committee found no evidence in the entry and exit logs maintained at the lodges and no parliamentarian came forward to record his/her statement.
When contacted, PPP legislator Imran Zafar Leghari, who is also member of special committee, said that they were examining the evidences given by Dasti. “Next meeting of the committee will be held on March 24,” he added.
On the other hand, the lawmaker from Muzaffargarh is still adamant on his stance that immoral activities were taking place at the Parliament Lodges.
“I have given liquor bottles as evidence, which were found in the premises of lodges,” said Dasti. “Ball is now in the court of rulers. I have done my duty. Allah knows better who is at fault,” he said.
Dasti in recent past made shocking claims in the Lower House of the Parliament, saying that liquor worth Rs 40 to 50 million is annually supplied to the Parliament Lodges. A seven-member committee was constituted to probe the authenticity of the allegations levelled by their fellow member.
Earlier, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had also declared the claims made by Dasti as baseless.