Accountability eludes RDA probe

Express Tribune

3 days ago

The fact-finding inquiry initiated by the Punjab Chief Secretary into the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) financial scandal has entered its concluding phase, but without accountability in the loop.
Written testimonies from six employees of the RDA Finance Directorate, along with two retired officers, have been submitted. A pivotal hearing is scheduled for July 31 in Lahore, after which the final inquiry report — complete with recommendations — will be submitted to the CS.
Sources told The Express Tribune that a female member of the inquiry committee recorded statements from the summoned officials on Tuesday regarding the alleged embezzlement involving the transfer of Rs1.94 billion from an official RDA account.
Simultaneously, a separate departmental probe committee — formed to investigate transfers via Certificates of Deposit (CDRs) from another RDA bank account — has failed to meet its seven-day reporting deadline.
Notably, despite the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) having questioned all summoned individuals in connection with the scandal, no investigation has yet been conducted involving any Directors General or Directors of Administration and Finance who held office during the five-year span in which the alleged misappropriations occurred.
To date, only two retired officers — former Director of Admin and Finance Asif Mehmood Janjua, and former Assistant Director Khawaja Arshad Javed — have been officially questioned.
It's essential to note that within the RDA, only two positions—the Director General and the Director of Administration and Finance — are vested with the authority to approve financial transactions.
Over two months have passed since the scandal surfaced in mid-May, revealing that Rs1.94b in public funds had been transferred via CDRs to various companies, firms, and individuals. Despite the gravity of the matter, no responsible parties have been identified, nor has any portion of the misappropriated amount been recovered.
Parallel investigations are ongoing by NAB, the chief secretary's fact-finding committee, and the departmental probe team formed by the RDA Director General. However, none have produced definitive findings.
The departmental committee, specifically tasked with determining whether RDA's financial securities were transferred between internal accounts, has yet to deliver its overdue report.
Last month, the RDA administration begun implementing key reforms to restore financial discipline. As an initial step, the implementation of an irregular promotion was halted, and a revised framework for financial authority was introduced.
Under the new structure, the director finance and deputy director finance had been jointly authorised to approve financial transactions up to Rs0.5 million. According to sources, the reforms came in response to investigations by the NAB, the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment, and the fact-finding committee set up by the chief secretary.
The scandal involved the unauthorised transfer of Rs1.94 billion in public funds to various companies and individuals through Call Deposit Receipts (CDRs).