By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: As if the generous writing off of loans worth Rs59.94billion during the General Pervez Musharraf reign wasn’t bad enough, now official documents show that hundreds of these borrowers were even given these loans with such casualness and deliberate neglect that not even the national identity cards of the borrowers were demanded by the banks, what to talk of other collateral and sureties.
The official record of these written off loans submitted to the National Assembly and available with The News revealed that in an unbelievable large number of cases the lending institutions, a bank and another (now defunct) financial entity, had issued huge loans to the individuals without even getting their National Identity Cards (NICs) as per prudential requirements.
The bank has not given any reason about how the loans were issued to these business parties and the individuals without getting their proper NICs as per requirements. One official has commented that this was not possible without the active collaboration of the bank officials as no bank could give loan to anyone without NICs.
The following cases reveal just another ugly aspect of this sordid plunder of national wealth where, barring a few genuine deserving cases, billions were siphoned away by hundreds of corrupt businessmen colluding with equally corrupt bankers. There were some genuine cases where loans were written off in accordance with the rules. In all cases listed below, none of the cited borrowers had been forced by the lending institutions to submit their ID cards, an otherwise basic requirement.
The ID cards of five directors of Ms Bawani Industries were missing. This loan was ultimately written off.
One foreign national Saral Dynamic Hardware Bobignv too managed to get a loan of Rs5.5million and later got his total outstanding Rs6.4million written off including the principal amount and Rs0.8million mark up. The loan was given in foreign currency to this foreign national.
The two banks wrote off billions of rupees during the Musharraf era and in one case, the defunct bank wrote off a loan of Rs137million outstanding against four individuals.
First Tawakal Modrab Karachi got Rs 628million written off while the borrowers—-Abdul Qadir Tawakal, Rafiq Tawakal,Ali Husasin Mooney and Abid Husain did not even bother submitting their NICs. Shahfa Corporation Lahore and its owners Saluddin Ahmed Sahaf, Wajiddin Mahmood Shaf also got Rs146million written off. Regnet Dyeing and Finishing Mills also got Rs 91million written including Rs50million principal loan. Fatima Foods Lahore also got Rs 80million written off with Rs 40million principal loan waived off. National Garments also got Rs 335million written off including Rs 140million principal amount. In Multan Mohib textile got Rs 1.17billion written off including principal amount of Rs546million. In Karachi Bawani Industries got Rs 70million written off including 11.3million principal amount. The names of the fathers of borrowers are not on official record of the bank who got this loan written off.
The papers show that even a London based n ex-employee of a bank, Abdul Haleem also got Rs 2.744million written off and now the bank says it did not have even the ID card of its own former employee available in record. His principal loan was Rs 2.7million which was written off.
Adamjee Industries also got Rs 48million written off including Rs168million principal amount. Farooq Sheikh, Mrs Shereen Farooq, Zafar Sheikh, Mumtaz Saleem, Tahir Sehikh got Rs 168million loan and got the whole principal wavied off. They also got the mark up of Rs225million written off too. Master Rubber Tyer owners Fayyaz Malik and Farooq Malik got 52m written off.
Even an industrial unit Ms Metropolitan National Textile Karachi owned by Sikandar Ali Jatoi, Mazhar Ali Jatoi, Jamal Hassan, SM Masood was given the loan without any NICs. A sum of Rs190million outstanding the Jaoti family was also written off.
The papers showed that even, the owners of Daweeo Corporation -Kim Woo Choong, Kim Joun Sung, Lee Woo Bok, Yoon Nuke Neon, Chug Myuong Kul did not submit their Ids at the time of obtaining Rs10.8million loan. Interestingly, the same amount was later written off by the bank. They got principal amount written off in addition to Rs2.3million mark up payable against this loan.
Even Ch Shujaat Hussain, Pervez Elahi and their family members who got Rs37.987 loan written off never produced their national identity cards.
Hearts International Rawalpindi got Rs0.9million written off while the bank did not have the IDs of Dr Major Gen retired Zulifkar Ali Khan, Dr Abdus Qudus Khan, Mohammad Rafi, Shamim Ashraf Khan, Naheed Mashud Kiani, Rahat Azfa. Johoson and Philips also got Rs 64 million loan written off and there is no record of NICs of the borrowers-Bilal Ahmed Qureshi, Raja Ahmed Khan, Habibulah Baig, Rasid Y Chinoy, Abdul Rehman Khan, Syed Abdul Noor. Johnson and Philips again got another loan of Rs26million written off and once again the same borrowers did not give their NICs. Ahmed Chemical limited owners Aftab Khan, Jehan Ara Khan, Mahjabeen Ahmed, Sabiuddin Ahmed, Iqbal Ahmed Khan, Iram Aftab, Aftab Ahmed Khan NICs are not available. They got Rs0.6million written off. Ksornos Corporation Lahore also got Rs 4.3million written off. Again NICs of Sh Abdul Hafeez, Sh Imran Hafeez, Sh Salman Hafeez, Sh Nauman Hafeez, Qari Khalid Mahmood, Shahbaz Murad and Zahida Hafeez are not available in the record. Zodesh Limited got Rs 40million written off. The borrowers Zoraia Lashari, Imrana Lashari, Ms Lubna Lashari and Hayat Khan did not give NICs.
GUJRAT: Mohammad Akram Rs 2.5m, Fazal Hussain Rs 0.6m, Malik Mohammad Akthar 0.5m, Yaqoob Brothers Rs 0.5m, Nisa Enterprise Rs 0.5m (Islamabad).
Mohammad Saleem Rs0.7m,
QUETTA: Abdul Qadir Rs 0.511m, Mohammad Alm Rs 0.4m, Haji Moula Dad Kalat Rs 0.5m, Mohammad Hassan Rs 0.5m, Mohammad Ramzan Rs 0.5m, Gul Mohammad Rs 0.5m,
KARACHI: Babar Rafiq Rs0/6, Mosar Ahmed Rs 0.5m, Qaisaurz Zaman Rs 0.6m, Sajid Husain Rs 0.570m, Nasir Rafique Rs 0.531m, Badar Ahmed Rs0.596m, Mazhar Fared Rs 0.683m, Khalid Mahmood Rs 0.653m, Saeed Ahmed 0.61m, Jawad Textile Industries 1m, Masnoor Yousuf Rs0.536m, Mohammad Ismail Rs0.595m, Amir Hashmi Rs0.5m, Sajid Ali Rs0.7m, Mushtaq Hussain Rs 0.579m, Tahir Ehtasham RS 0.6M, Mohammad Noman Bhatti Rs 0.54m, Saleemuddin Rs 0.522m, Anisuddin Rs 0.522m, Monbina Begum Rs0.639m, Miss Tabasum Shehnaz Rs 0.6m, Mohammad Yousuf Rs 0.665m, Mant Lal Mault Rs 0.674m, Athar Maqbool Rs 0.7m, Shahid Khan Rs 0.5m, Azaam Afridi Rs 0.633m, Syed Qasim Hussain Rs 0.539m, Abdul Qayyum Rs 0.681m, Mohammad Burhan Khan Rs0.825m, Syed Khurram Raza Naqvi Rs 0.543m, Hassan Shakeel Rs 0.825m, Ali Hassan Rs 0.534m, Mohammad Irfan Khan Rs 0.550m, Shafiq Ahmed RS 0.820M, Ali Hassan Hassan Rs 0.534m, Mohammad Irfan Khan Rs 0.550M, Khawaja Moin Hasan Rs 0.666m, Raza Hasan Rs0.528m, Syed Afaq Moid Rs 0.679m, Syed Mohammad Nasim Ali Rs0.680m, Syed Aslam Ali Rs0.67m, Asif Rehman Rs 0.665m, Asim Ilyas Rs 0.5m, Adnan Hassan Rs 0.820m, Syed Rasheed Ahmed Rs0.5m, Mobina Afzal Rs 0.7m, Kamran Rauf Rs 0.74m, Najma Akthar Rs0.825m, S Sharifuddin Rs 0.825m, Imtiaz Hussain Zaidi Rs 0.6m, Khalid Baig Rs 0.589m, Mohammad Awan RS 0.6M, Tariq Baloch Rs0.668m, Mohammad Mobin Sheikh Rs 0.614m, Ms Golden Paint industries Rs0.7m, Mohammad Arshad Shakeel Rs 1.441m, Altaf Hussain Shah Rs 0.5m, Mehmoodul Hassan Rs 0.548m, Mashuddin Rs0.9m, Atizaudin Rs 1.5m, Wajihuddin Rs1.5m, Ihtashamuddin Rs 0.557m, FS Aizauddin Rs 0.5m, FS Azauddin Rs 0.58m, Mrs Rubina Rs 0.655m, Abdul Azim RS 0.556M, Abdul Razakk Rs 0.5m, Akthar Hussain Rs 0.519m, Asif Soomro Rs 0.554m, Fayyaz Ahmed Rs 0.544m, M Saleem Rs 0.539m, Sadiq Bano Rs 0.54m, Moizudin Rs 0.562m, Abdul Haq Rs0.5m, Mrs Kasuar Perveen Rs0.514m, Mohammad Rafiq Rs 0.551m, Mohammad Saleem Rs 0.591, Rana Mohmmad Rs0.545m, Rukhsana Begum Rs0.504m, S. Rehan Shahid Rs0.560m. Hssan Khan Rs 0.503m, Kashan Ali Rs 0.624m, Saleem Medical Store Rs 1.5million, Ms Huma Electric Inds Nameem Ullsah Rs 1.4m, Ms Tariq Electric Inds Rs 3.2m, Ms New National Steel Inds Rs 2.5million, Ms Kashmir Industrial Corp Rs 1.1m,
Irfan Basharat Rs 2.1m, Jhangir Hadier Rs 6.5m, Mohammad Sadiq Rs 2.66m, Punjab Ceremaic owners Zahid Shkeel Rs 7.6million, Ms Gulberg Caters owned by Mohammad Aslam Rs0.9m.
Showing posts with label Rauf Klasra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rauf Klasra. Show all posts
Most of Rs100bn loans written off in Musharraf era
By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: Industrialists, military men and politicians have got loans of over Rs100 billion written off from banks since 1985, the National Assembly Secretariat record has revealed.
A big chunk of loans was written off during the regime of former President Pervez Musharraf.
The beneficiaries also included politicians-cum-industrialists and a group of the print media that later joined the electronic media.
A few of those who got loans written off were genuine cases as they suffered from sick industries or bankruptcy. Their loans were written off according to rules and the prevalent law. Some of the beneficiaries, however, submitted bogus claims and the banks did not follow rules and regulations in writing off their loans.
The official record available with The News which was placed in the NA in the past showed that a mind-boggling sum of Rs30 billion in loans was written off between 1985-2002, benefiting the top politicians, military men and powerful industrial groups of the country. The list was compiled by the then caretaker government of Moin Qureshi in 1993.
In 2007, the auditor general of Pakistan had revealed in a report that during the period 2002-2007, loans worth Rs54 billion were written off by the Musharraf government. Thus, total figure had reached Rs85 billion. But, now the recent official report presented before the NA revealed that the total figure of written off loans had finally crossed Rs100 billion.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Babar Awan’s announcement about the loan write-off on Tuesday was followed by the demand of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif to recover the written off loans from politicians, might land many in big trouble.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had also taken suo moto notice in October 2007 after this correspondent had published a story in The News quoting the auditor general of Pakistan report that loans worth Rs54 billion were written off during the last five years. The issue is still pending before the court.
Likewise, the NA Public Accounts Committee headed by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has also taken serious note of the loan write-off and its report is yet to be tabled for further deliberation.
As many as 1,000 influential businessmen and Army men had a total of Rs18 billion loans written off by the government-owned banks during the first three years of the military government. The list was submitted in the NA when Zafarullah Jamali was the prime minister and Shaukat Aziz his finance minister.
The loan write-off scam was partially reported in the media in the early days of Musharraf but was finjavascript:void(0)ally swept under the carpet.
It may be added that these loans were written off after declaring these industrial units as “sick industry or on the pretext of bankruptcy”. Many of the beneficiaries denied having their loans written-off.
ISLAMABAD: Industrialists, military men and politicians have got loans of over Rs100 billion written off from banks since 1985, the National Assembly Secretariat record has revealed.
A big chunk of loans was written off during the regime of former President Pervez Musharraf.
The beneficiaries also included politicians-cum-industrialists and a group of the print media that later joined the electronic media.
A few of those who got loans written off were genuine cases as they suffered from sick industries or bankruptcy. Their loans were written off according to rules and the prevalent law. Some of the beneficiaries, however, submitted bogus claims and the banks did not follow rules and regulations in writing off their loans.
The official record available with The News which was placed in the NA in the past showed that a mind-boggling sum of Rs30 billion in loans was written off between 1985-2002, benefiting the top politicians, military men and powerful industrial groups of the country. The list was compiled by the then caretaker government of Moin Qureshi in 1993.
In 2007, the auditor general of Pakistan had revealed in a report that during the period 2002-2007, loans worth Rs54 billion were written off by the Musharraf government. Thus, total figure had reached Rs85 billion. But, now the recent official report presented before the NA revealed that the total figure of written off loans had finally crossed Rs100 billion.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Babar Awan’s announcement about the loan write-off on Tuesday was followed by the demand of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif to recover the written off loans from politicians, might land many in big trouble.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had also taken suo moto notice in October 2007 after this correspondent had published a story in The News quoting the auditor general of Pakistan report that loans worth Rs54 billion were written off during the last five years. The issue is still pending before the court.
Likewise, the NA Public Accounts Committee headed by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has also taken serious note of the loan write-off and its report is yet to be tabled for further deliberation.
As many as 1,000 influential businessmen and Army men had a total of Rs18 billion loans written off by the government-owned banks during the first three years of the military government. The list was submitted in the NA when Zafarullah Jamali was the prime minister and Shaukat Aziz his finance minister.
The loan write-off scam was partially reported in the media in the early days of Musharraf but was finjavascript:void(0)ally swept under the carpet.
It may be added that these loans were written off after declaring these industrial units as “sick industry or on the pretext of bankruptcy”. Many of the beneficiaries denied having their loans written-off.
A Bhutto walks away with lucrative $20m deal
By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: A first cousin of late Benazir Bhutto - Mehfooz Mustafa Bhutto - has emerged as a central figure in a brewing controversy surrounding the highly questionable contract of $20 million by the Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC). Mehfooz is the marketing director of the lucky USA-based firm M/s Valerus. Mehfooz Mustafa, reportedly, also shuttled recently between the US and Pakistan to secure this lucrative contract for his Houston-based company.
According to details, the OGDC awarded the contract to Valerus without floating open tenders. The tender was not even posted on the OGDC website and in a classic manner to favour its favourites, the OGDC management allegedly only invited hand-picked pre-selected firms as a formality.
Investigations carried out by The News revealed the OGDC had awarded the contract to Valerus for supply of compressors for the Qadirpur gas field as gas compression was required to stop the field from early depletion. Sources said the contract was given at the time when President Zardari’s close friend, Dr Asim was adviser on petroleum and the de facto federal petroleum minister.
The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules prohibit any public sector company to procure any material for any use without floating press tenders and also any tender valued over Rs2 million must be published in the national dailies to ensure transparency and fair play for all the stakeholders. The PPRA is responsible for prescribing regulations and procedures for public procurement.
Talking to The News, former adviser on petroleum Dr Asim Hussain said from Dubai that he had “heard” that the multi-million dollar contract was awarded to a USA-based company. He said he had also “heard” from officials about the cousin of late Benazir Bhutto working in the same US company, but he hastened to add he never met him one-on-one. “It is possible that Mustafa Bhutto might have met me with a large delegation of his company at Islamabad but I don’t remember meeting him one-on-one,” Dr Asim said.
However, Asim said this contract had nothing to do with him nor was he involved in any wrongdoings as far as this contract was concerned.
Basharat Mirza, General-Manager Projects, OGDC, confirmed to The News it was true that the multi-million dollar tender for the compressors was not invited through the press or the official website of the department. Mirza also confirmed it was true that this was the same US company which was given contract where the first cousin of late Benazir Bhutto — Mehfooz Mustafa — was working. To a question, he denied any wrongdoings in the whole process of award of the contract, as he claimed on paper everything was done correctly and since he took charge he did not see any irregularity in the award of the contract. He said the pre-qualified parties were invited to take part in the bidding and the lowest bidding firm was given the contract.
Meanwhile, this correspondent sent an email to Mehfooz Mustafa and his bosses last week, asking both the gentlemen to offer their replies to the attached questionnaire. Both gentlemen have opted not to respond. After a two-day wait, this correspondent repeated the email and waited for another three days before filing this story.
The following questions were forwarded to Mr Mustafa and his boss: 1) Please confirm that the OGDC awarded a contract to your company for $20 million for supply of compression equipment for the Qadirpur gas field. 2) Are you aware that there were no press tenders issued by the OGDC for the contract ultimately awarded to your company? 3) Mehfooz, is this true that you are the first cousin of late Benazir Bhutto and Director International Business Development of Valerus? 4) Please confirm that you are assigned to visit the OGDC for business promotion purposes and you visited Zahid Hussain, MD OGDC on several occasions. 5) Can you confirm that your company paid commission in favour of your local agent through their account outside Pakistan and 6) can you comment that your company is in this business for less than five years.
That Mehfooz and his company have opted to maintain silence over these straightforward questions, speaks volumes about the transparency of this multi-million dollar deal!
ISLAMABAD: A first cousin of late Benazir Bhutto - Mehfooz Mustafa Bhutto - has emerged as a central figure in a brewing controversy surrounding the highly questionable contract of $20 million by the Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC). Mehfooz is the marketing director of the lucky USA-based firm M/s Valerus. Mehfooz Mustafa, reportedly, also shuttled recently between the US and Pakistan to secure this lucrative contract for his Houston-based company.
According to details, the OGDC awarded the contract to Valerus without floating open tenders. The tender was not even posted on the OGDC website and in a classic manner to favour its favourites, the OGDC management allegedly only invited hand-picked pre-selected firms as a formality.
Investigations carried out by The News revealed the OGDC had awarded the contract to Valerus for supply of compressors for the Qadirpur gas field as gas compression was required to stop the field from early depletion. Sources said the contract was given at the time when President Zardari’s close friend, Dr Asim was adviser on petroleum and the de facto federal petroleum minister.
The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules prohibit any public sector company to procure any material for any use without floating press tenders and also any tender valued over Rs2 million must be published in the national dailies to ensure transparency and fair play for all the stakeholders. The PPRA is responsible for prescribing regulations and procedures for public procurement.
Talking to The News, former adviser on petroleum Dr Asim Hussain said from Dubai that he had “heard” that the multi-million dollar contract was awarded to a USA-based company. He said he had also “heard” from officials about the cousin of late Benazir Bhutto working in the same US company, but he hastened to add he never met him one-on-one. “It is possible that Mustafa Bhutto might have met me with a large delegation of his company at Islamabad but I don’t remember meeting him one-on-one,” Dr Asim said.
However, Asim said this contract had nothing to do with him nor was he involved in any wrongdoings as far as this contract was concerned.
Basharat Mirza, General-Manager Projects, OGDC, confirmed to The News it was true that the multi-million dollar tender for the compressors was not invited through the press or the official website of the department. Mirza also confirmed it was true that this was the same US company which was given contract where the first cousin of late Benazir Bhutto — Mehfooz Mustafa — was working. To a question, he denied any wrongdoings in the whole process of award of the contract, as he claimed on paper everything was done correctly and since he took charge he did not see any irregularity in the award of the contract. He said the pre-qualified parties were invited to take part in the bidding and the lowest bidding firm was given the contract.
Meanwhile, this correspondent sent an email to Mehfooz Mustafa and his bosses last week, asking both the gentlemen to offer their replies to the attached questionnaire. Both gentlemen have opted not to respond. After a two-day wait, this correspondent repeated the email and waited for another three days before filing this story.
The following questions were forwarded to Mr Mustafa and his boss: 1) Please confirm that the OGDC awarded a contract to your company for $20 million for supply of compression equipment for the Qadirpur gas field. 2) Are you aware that there were no press tenders issued by the OGDC for the contract ultimately awarded to your company? 3) Mehfooz, is this true that you are the first cousin of late Benazir Bhutto and Director International Business Development of Valerus? 4) Please confirm that you are assigned to visit the OGDC for business promotion purposes and you visited Zahid Hussain, MD OGDC on several occasions. 5) Can you confirm that your company paid commission in favour of your local agent through their account outside Pakistan and 6) can you comment that your company is in this business for less than five years.
That Mehfooz and his company have opted to maintain silence over these straightforward questions, speaks volumes about the transparency of this multi-million dollar deal!
Nuclear Command Authority Ordinance being made law
By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: In an obvious bid to address international concerns about the safety of nuclear assets in Pakistan, the Chairman NA Standing Committee on Defence MNA Azra Fazal Pechuho, is rushing the report of her 17-member committee to the National Assembly today (Wednesday) to seek immediate legal cover to the Nuclear Command Authority Ordinance 2007.
Growing international concern over the much hyped issue of safety of Pakistan’s nuclear assets particularly in the wake of the deadly attack on the GHQ by terrorists, followed by a full blown controversy stirred by a recent scathing article by Pulitzer winner journalist Seymour Hersh, was said to have forced top leadership to urgently get the now two-year old ordinance to be immediately wrought into law to allay international fears, both real and imaginary.
According to the recommended committee draft, the president will be the chairman of the Authority with the prime minister as the vice chairman while ministers for foreign affairs, defence, finance, interior, and three services chiefs, chairman joint chiefs of staff committee, DG Strategic Planning Division (SPD) will be its members.
The nuclear command authority is being given sweeping powers under the clause of “indemnity’ as no law suite, prosecution, or other legal proceedings shall lie against the authority, its chairman, members and employees in respect of anything, which is done in a good faith or intended to be done under this law or the rules, instructions or directions made or issued.
The Authority shall implement measures and assist the federal government pursuant to any obligation on Pakistan relating to non-proliferation, safety, security, accidents, terrorism etc. The NA committee has recommended five minor amendments in the original bill. The Authority would have the powers to authorize possession and use of firearms to security force personnel who are in the service of the Authority.
The government is also tabling the “compelling reasons” in the lower house along with the report of the committee to re-emphasize the urgent need to enact this bill, which became a mandatory step after Pakistan went nuclear in 1998 and why it was necessary to bring this law to the Parliament to address the concerns of the international community.
But, the new law is silent over the important issue of who would hold the power to delay the pushing of the button in case of a nuclear threat from any country in a state of war. The law aims at protecting Pakistan’s nuclear assets and its secrets and whosoever, including uniformed or civilian functionary, will breach the security or the secrecy would be punishable with a minimum of 25-year jail term. A session judge notified by the federal government shall have the jurisdiction to try offences under this law.
All the officers and employees, advisors, consultants and any other person appointed by the Authority in connection with the affairs of the Authority and affairs of the strategic organizations coming under the control and management of the Authority shall execute declaration of the fidelity and secrecy in prescribed manner.
Under the new law, the Authority shall have the powers to perform all such functions that are necessary to implement the objects and purpose of this law. It will exercise complete command and control over all nuclear space related technologies, systems and matters. It will supervise, manage, and coordinate the administration, management control and audit of budget, programs and projects etc. It will take measures regarding employees in respect of their movement, communication, privacy, assembly or association, in the public interest or the interest of the integrity, security or the defence of Pakistan or friendly relations with foreign states and public order.
It will also ensure security and safety of nuclear establishment, nuclear materials and to safeguard all information and technology relating to said matters. The Authority will have also to carry out functions of fact finding, inquiry, investigation, prosecution, etc of offences under the law.
Meanwhile, the government has attached a statement of objective with the bill to inform the parliamentarians why it was important to enact this law. It said, “Nuclear Authority was created with a wide mandate in respect of all issues relating to nuclear and space technologies and to matters including the jurisdiction to regulate and administer the affairs of the strategic organizations and all the organization working in the strategic areas should be formally linked. The authority was also set up to ensure effective penalties under the law to deter any possibility, negligence, attempted proliferation, violation of rules etc.
It said, “The National Command Authority Ordinance provides comprehensive legal basis for the functions and powers of the NCA, persons working under it. It also said that the law demonstrated that Pakistan would continue to exercise full and complete control, security and safety measures all over the matters concerning nuclear and space technologies, nuclear establishments, nuclear system, nuclear material, relevant personnel and related information etc.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Babar Awan will table the bill in the NA on Wednesday for its approval before sending it to the Senate of Pakistan before President Zardari gets to sign it into law. The committee headed by Dr Azra (sister of President Asif Ali Zardari) included Nawab Abdul Ghani Talpur, Amir Ali Magsi, Bilal Virk, Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, Fasial Saleh Hayat, Ch Wajhat Hussain, Syed Haider Ali Shah, Jawad Hussain, Ayaz Amir, Talib Hassan Nakai, Begum Ishrat Ashraf, Abdul Wahid Soomro, Gulam Mujtaba Kharal and others.
ISLAMABAD: In an obvious bid to address international concerns about the safety of nuclear assets in Pakistan, the Chairman NA Standing Committee on Defence MNA Azra Fazal Pechuho, is rushing the report of her 17-member committee to the National Assembly today (Wednesday) to seek immediate legal cover to the Nuclear Command Authority Ordinance 2007.
Growing international concern over the much hyped issue of safety of Pakistan’s nuclear assets particularly in the wake of the deadly attack on the GHQ by terrorists, followed by a full blown controversy stirred by a recent scathing article by Pulitzer winner journalist Seymour Hersh, was said to have forced top leadership to urgently get the now two-year old ordinance to be immediately wrought into law to allay international fears, both real and imaginary.
According to the recommended committee draft, the president will be the chairman of the Authority with the prime minister as the vice chairman while ministers for foreign affairs, defence, finance, interior, and three services chiefs, chairman joint chiefs of staff committee, DG Strategic Planning Division (SPD) will be its members.
The nuclear command authority is being given sweeping powers under the clause of “indemnity’ as no law suite, prosecution, or other legal proceedings shall lie against the authority, its chairman, members and employees in respect of anything, which is done in a good faith or intended to be done under this law or the rules, instructions or directions made or issued.
The Authority shall implement measures and assist the federal government pursuant to any obligation on Pakistan relating to non-proliferation, safety, security, accidents, terrorism etc. The NA committee has recommended five minor amendments in the original bill. The Authority would have the powers to authorize possession and use of firearms to security force personnel who are in the service of the Authority.
The government is also tabling the “compelling reasons” in the lower house along with the report of the committee to re-emphasize the urgent need to enact this bill, which became a mandatory step after Pakistan went nuclear in 1998 and why it was necessary to bring this law to the Parliament to address the concerns of the international community.
But, the new law is silent over the important issue of who would hold the power to delay the pushing of the button in case of a nuclear threat from any country in a state of war. The law aims at protecting Pakistan’s nuclear assets and its secrets and whosoever, including uniformed or civilian functionary, will breach the security or the secrecy would be punishable with a minimum of 25-year jail term. A session judge notified by the federal government shall have the jurisdiction to try offences under this law.
All the officers and employees, advisors, consultants and any other person appointed by the Authority in connection with the affairs of the Authority and affairs of the strategic organizations coming under the control and management of the Authority shall execute declaration of the fidelity and secrecy in prescribed manner.
Under the new law, the Authority shall have the powers to perform all such functions that are necessary to implement the objects and purpose of this law. It will exercise complete command and control over all nuclear space related technologies, systems and matters. It will supervise, manage, and coordinate the administration, management control and audit of budget, programs and projects etc. It will take measures regarding employees in respect of their movement, communication, privacy, assembly or association, in the public interest or the interest of the integrity, security or the defence of Pakistan or friendly relations with foreign states and public order.
It will also ensure security and safety of nuclear establishment, nuclear materials and to safeguard all information and technology relating to said matters. The Authority will have also to carry out functions of fact finding, inquiry, investigation, prosecution, etc of offences under the law.
Meanwhile, the government has attached a statement of objective with the bill to inform the parliamentarians why it was important to enact this law. It said, “Nuclear Authority was created with a wide mandate in respect of all issues relating to nuclear and space technologies and to matters including the jurisdiction to regulate and administer the affairs of the strategic organizations and all the organization working in the strategic areas should be formally linked. The authority was also set up to ensure effective penalties under the law to deter any possibility, negligence, attempted proliferation, violation of rules etc.
It said, “The National Command Authority Ordinance provides comprehensive legal basis for the functions and powers of the NCA, persons working under it. It also said that the law demonstrated that Pakistan would continue to exercise full and complete control, security and safety measures all over the matters concerning nuclear and space technologies, nuclear establishments, nuclear system, nuclear material, relevant personnel and related information etc.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Babar Awan will table the bill in the NA on Wednesday for its approval before sending it to the Senate of Pakistan before President Zardari gets to sign it into law. The committee headed by Dr Azra (sister of President Asif Ali Zardari) included Nawab Abdul Ghani Talpur, Amir Ali Magsi, Bilal Virk, Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, Fasial Saleh Hayat, Ch Wajhat Hussain, Syed Haider Ali Shah, Jawad Hussain, Ayaz Amir, Talib Hassan Nakai, Begum Ishrat Ashraf, Abdul Wahid Soomro, Gulam Mujtaba Kharal and others.
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