LAHORE: The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) and Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) are at loggerheads over the matter of audit.
Sources said that PEC is still refusing to get its accounts audited directly from the AGP whereas earlier, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had accepted PEC’s request for letting a private firm conducting its audit on the condition that the report must be endorsed by the AGP to which the PEC had agreed.
However, later the PEC had the accounts audit conducted by a private firm in this regard and dispatched the report to the Federal Audit Director General (DG) for endorsement but he did not accept it saying that his involment in the matter would be against the rules as the council is a government statutory body whose parent ministry is the Ministry of Science and Technology, meaning that it clearly falls under the AGP’s audit jurisdiction.
As the AGP is a responsible institution and liable to conduct an audit of all departments that fall under the government of Pakistan, the PEC must also observe the rules as everyone else and provide the AGP access to all its accounts for an audit.
On the other hand, PEC has also written a letter to PAC chairman with regard to the functions of powers of AGP in relation to PEC accounts.
The letter stated that it was unanimously decided in the PAC meeting in February, 2020, that the PEC, having been established under the Act of parliament, should present its statement audited by a chartered accountant firm before the AGP for certification and compliance.
“The PEC submitted its audit report to the Ministry of Science and Technology with regard to compliance on PAC directions,” the letter further stated, adding that the minutes of the PAC meeting issued did not clearly capture the decision that was made, therefore, PEC submitted its observations on the draft minutes of the meeting in March 2020.
The PEC has requested the PAC chairman to revise the decision in this regard.
