Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday constituted a special committee for the inquiry into alleged corruption and illegal appointments in the provincial bank, the Bank of Khyber (BoK).
The issue was raised by the parliamentary leader of ANP Sardar Hussain Babak through a call attention notice, who said that the Bank of Khyber was a precious asset and source of earning for the provincial government, but, unfortunately now it was incurring huge losses.
He said that the BoK had lost Rs110 million in 2016 and if the trend continued then its loss by the year 2018 would go up to Rs3 billion. The private shares holders, he said, were earning millions of rupees but the government was in a loss.
He alleged that 1450 illegal appointments had been made in the bank during the last four years while five officers had been punished and dismissed from service for pinpointing them.
Sardar Hussain Babak said that Chief Minister had assured the house for presenting inquiry report into the affairs of the bank, but it could not be presented till date. He asked the speaker Asad Qaiser to constitute a special committee consisting of representatives of all parliamentary parties.
The Minister for Finance Muzaffar Said Advocate also supported Sardar Hussain Babak and said that he had transferred the Chairman of the Board concerned Owais Ahmad Agha for violation of rules and regulations, which was followed by the transfer of the matter from the finance department to Planning and Development Department (P&D).
Muzaffar disclosed that the incumbent Managing Director (MD) BoK was appointed illegally and his case was referred to Ehtesab Commission, but due to some unforeseen elements, the case could not progress.
He said that managing director first published an advertisement in the press against him on the behest of someone and later tendered an apology and by publishing another advertisement in the newspaper.
Muzaffar Said also requested the Speaker for the constitution of the special committee so it could present its report within a period of two weeks.
The finance minister rejected the allegations of corruption and called for the checking of the financial affairs of the bank through an impartial agency to verify the statistics presented by the MD Shamsul Qayyum to them.
PPP’s Sahibzada Sanaullah, JUIF’s Mufti Said Janan, PML –N’s Amana Sardar, ANP’s Syed Jafar Shah, PTI’s Imtiaz Shahid and PPP’s Fakhre Azam Wazir also spoke on the issue.
Later, the Speaker Asad Qaiser adjourned the proceedings of the house till 3:00 P.M on Tuesday.
