ISLAMABAD: The Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue of the National Assembly has thrown the disbursement of Rs21 billion for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa into uncertainty by referring the matter to the Parliament.
This follows a directive from the Supreme Court last week, which ordered the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to release the funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by April 17.
A meeting was called Monday to discuss the matter with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, Auditor General of Pakistan Mohammad Ajmal Gondal and Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Awan in attendance.
During the meeting, Deputy Minister for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha revealed that neither the SBP nor the Finance Division had the authority to release funds from the Federal Consolidated Fund (FCF) without parliamentary approval.
She said that the entire matter is now in the hands of the parliament, which is “supreme according to the Constitution.”
During the meeting, Tarar revealed that funds were not included in the annual budget but were instead presented in a bill, which was rejected by both the National Assembly and the Senate.
He stressed that the Constitution must be followed and that a solution should be derived.
Meanwhile, the committee requested the finance ministry to refer their demand to the cabinet, which will then send the matter to the National Assembly.
SBP Deputy Governor Sima Kamil informed the committee that the central bank had allocated the funds for elections but did not have the authority to release them.
The committee chairman, Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, noted that the matter was now in the hands of the National Assembly.
More details to follow
