PM Khan chairs meeting to discuss ToRs of inquiry commission

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting to discuss Terms of Reference (ToRs) for the establishment of a high-powered investigation commission, ARY News reported.

The premier held a detailed discussion on terms of references for the to-be-formed commission to probe into corruption and money laundering committed by previous rulers in the last 10 years.

The high-level meeting was attended by Law Minister Barrister Farogh Nasim, PM’s Special Assistant on Accountability Shahzad Akbar and Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP), who was also summoned by the premier.

It was decided that the inquiry commission will be established under Inquiry Act 2017 which would comprise senior officials of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Military Intelligence (MI), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and Auditor General office.

The commission will hold a thorough probe into details of loans acquired in the last 10 years from 2008 to 2018. The commission will investigate how the debt of the country from 2008 to 2018 increased by Rs24,000 billion despite no mega projects were carried out in the country during the period.

Read More: PM Imran announces to establish high-powered probe commission

Moreover, the inquiry commission will be authorised to scrutinse utilisation of public funds by different ministries including expenditures of foreign trips and medical treatment abroad. The members of the commission will also be given special powers to get services of forensic experts of international repute to ascertain financial irregularities, sources said.

Following the directions of PM Khan, the construction of personal houses in the name of building camp offices and roads will also come under investigation.

A decision was also made for finalising legal procedures for the recovery of looted money over illegal usage of public funds.

The commission will be established after finalisation of its terms of references following an announcement this week.

Read More: Time for nation to stop glorifying money launderers: PM Khan

Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced to establish a high-powered commission under his supervision to find out facts behind soaring of loans to Rs24,000 billion in last 10 years.

PM Imran Khan, while addressing the nation post announcement of budget 2019-20, said, “No one will be able to continue corruption in the country in future. The country is now stabilised and I will go after them now.”

He said that the commission will be comprised of officials from Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and other concerned institutions.