Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Public Accounts Committee, the most important parliamentary forum of accountability, at last took notice of the Panama scandal after five months and summoned all concerned on September 8 in the National Assembly.

Sources disclosed on Sunday that PAC may order a formal enquiry on Panama leaks but the government could oppose it due to Pakistan Commission of Inquiry Bill, which is already tabled in the National Assembly.

Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly and PAC Committee Chairman Syed Khursheed Shah arranged the meeting on the request of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members, sources told Daily Times.

The PAC joint secretary issued notices to the Federal Board of Revenue, finance secretary, and National Accountability Bureau, directing them to ensure their presence in PAC on September 8 at 11am at the Parliament House. They were also directed to come up with all relevant record and documents regarding Panama Papers.

“We were closely monitoring the proceedings of the Parliamentary Committee on TORs for Panama scandal and were hopeful that this committee would come up with positive results. However, due to major differences between the government and opposition members, this committee became redundant. Now PAC has taken a strict notice of the issue,” said a PAC official said while justifying the delay in proceedings of such an important issue.

Sources said that FBR has been given directions to brief the PAC on the steps they had taken after the Panama leaks disclosure. PAC would be briefed on the fate of notices issued by FBR to those whose names were shown in Panama leaks.

PAC consists of members of all parliamentary parties, so it is expected that PTI and Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) members would raise the issue of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members whose name were also included in the Panama Papers, while the government members were all set to defend the prime minister and his family members.

The PAC sources said that this forum could order formal investigation of Panama Papers to any federal agency and for this, PAC has summoned the senior officials of National Accountability Bureau and Federal Investigation Agency in the meeting as well.