ISLAMABAD: Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly has once again summoned Registrar Supreme Court (SC) on 16 of this month as it decided to conduct an audit of the Superior Court from 2010-2021, a private television channel reported on Wednesday.
PAC Chairman Noor Alam Khan, in a meeting, stated that the committee had decided to go for an audit of the apex court from 2010-11 to 2020-21.
Chairman PAC also gestured to issuing arrest warrants if the registrar became unable to appear before the Public Accounts Committee. In response to a question, Noor Alam Khan assured that he would summon the registrar again if the court ordered a stay on his warrants.
He asked the auditor general to provide a comparative and detailed observation report on the privileges and salaries received by the president, prime minister, federal ministers, parliamentarians, and chief justice.
Meanwhile, the committee has also asked for a record of 190 million pounds from the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency.
Earlier Summons to Registrar Supreme Court
This was not the first attempt of the Committee to look into the accounts of the Supreme Court. Earlier in March 2023, the PAC asked for records of the Supreme Court judges, including salary, perks, and privileges, within a month.
Noor Alam Khan asked why the Auditor General of Pakistan failed to produce a report related to the salaries, perks, and privileges of judges of the higher court. The report was not submitted in the meeting, he said.
The Chairman PAC said the masses should know what salary, perks, and privileges are being entertained by the judges of the Supreme Court. He ordered the Auditor General of Pakistan to complete and present an audit report to the Supreme Court within 30 days.
On Tuesday, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif criticized the judiciary on the floor of the assembly for ‘interfering in political matters,’ demanding accountability of the current and former judges.
Asif said that a special committee should be formed to investigate the cases from the prosecution of former premier Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to date.
Khawaja Asif lambasted the apex court for ordering the ‘political parties to negotiate’, adding that they (the court) should first end their differences instead of ordering them.
“The practice of overthrowing prime ministers should end,” he said, pointing out the prosecutions of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif. “We [the politicians] should defend our Prime Minister, whatever he belongs to any party,” he added.
He further said that politicians were held accountable several times in the past, however, now its the time for the judiciary to be accountable, adding that there were some people who enjoy lifetime vehicles, guards, and phone bills along with pension.
