ISLAMABAD: Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Shibli Faraz has announced that an inter-ministerial committee has been formed to probe the Broadsheet LLC scandal.
“This is a problem that started in 2000 when an NRO was given to PML-N and PPP,” he said, while talking to journalists after federal cabinet meeting today (Tuesday) in Islamabad.
The federal minister said, “Different interviews have come forth and after the High Court’s decision in England, an inter-ministerial committee has been formed to further dissect the matter.
An interview of Broadsheet CEO Kaveh Moussavi has surfaced in which he made several claims regarding the firm’s investigation into the assets of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif held abroad.
Shibli Faraz said that the committee will not only minutely probe the fine points of the case, but it will also determine “how the country’s wealth was looted, and how the firm, after it made important discoveries, was approached by someone said to be Nawaz Sharif’s cousin to have the family’s name removed from the matter.”
He further said that those who made a mockery out of the state institutions and dragged the country into litigation will be dealt with after the committee shares its own findings.
Talking about the other decisions, the minister informed that the cabinet also approved a bill to enhance powers of the auditor general of Pakistan to ensure transparency. “Automation and digitization are being introduced in the working of the office of auditor general of Pakistan,” he added.
Referring to the negative impact of the sale of smuggled petrol in Pakistan, he said the sale of smuggled petrol is inflicting a loss of around 180 billion rupees to the national exchequer.
“A crackdown has started against petrol pumps involved in selling substandard smuggled petrol. So far 192 petrol pumps have sealed and almost 2090 petrol pumps have been identified that are involved in selling smuggled petrol,” he informed.
Shibli Faraz also said the Prime Minister also instructed to formulate a policy in fifteen days to address shortage of wheat and other food items in the country.
