ISLAMABAD - Auditor General Buland Akhtar Rana on Wednesday declared that release of over Rs 400 billion to Independent Power Producers (IPPs) was in violation of rules.
He made this statement during the meeting of Public Accounts Committee, which was held in Parliament House in the chair of Syed Khursheed Shah, chairman PAC and leader of the opposition in the national assembly.
The auditor general declared that the said amount was released to ease shortage of power in violation of rules and there was no audit of this amount. During the meeting the officials of ministry of finance briefed the committee that release of the said amount was made after the approval of the federal cabinet, which can take such decisions. The PAC showed its displeasure on the objection of audit officials and observed that the electric supply should be given to the people at any cost and these types of objections should not be raised. The committee referred the matter to the ministry of law and sought reply within one day.
The committee also looked into the audit objections of WAPDA during the fiscal year of 2011-12. Interestingly at that time the PAC was chaired by Syed Naveed Qamer due to the absence of Syed Khursheed Shah.  Syed Naveed Qamer viewed the audit objections of the time when he was minister for water and power. Audit officials disclosed that in year 2011 the amount of Rs 1100 million were released by WAPDA on a fake claim, which was not claimed on proper time. The committee took notice of this issue and sought a comprehensive inquiry report within one month.