Ehtesab Commission Act amendment bill tabled in KP Assembly

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government on Saturday tabled a bill in the provincial assembly seeking to amend the KP Ehtesab Commission (KPEC) Act.

The government wants the commission not to take action over ongoing development projects and for procedural lapses in the government departments.

KP Law Minister Imtiaz Shahid tabled the KPEC (Amendment) Bill 2016 in which he proposed curtailment of the powers of the commission’s director general.

“The director general (DG) of the Ehtesab Commission should only investigate the matters involving financial losses over Rs50 million.

While, under the existing law, the DG is empowered to order enquiry against a person that appears to have been involved in any irregularity.

“However, if the financial loss to the provincial exchequer is less than Rs50 million, the matter shall be investigated by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE),” the bill stated.

This should be noted here that, following the promulgation of a controversial ordinance by the provincial government on Feb 9, 2016, through which drastic amendments were made to the KPEC Act, the then director general, retired Lt-Gen Hamid Khan had resigned.