PAC member claims he received threats for 'questioning Wapda chief'

• Electricity meters removed after questioning, claims PAC member.
• PAC members condemn action, demand speaker’s intervention.
• Wapda actions termed an attack on parliament’s integrity.

ISLAMABAD: A session of National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) witnessed on Wednesday serious allegations from PAC member, PTI MNA Sanaullah Masti Khel, who accused the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) of retaliatory action following his inquiries into a multibillion-rupee hydropower project.

Speaking to the media following the meeting, Masti Khel said he had questioned Wapda Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Sajjad Ghani during the previous day’s session about discrepancies in the Dasu hydropower project’s cost. “Yesterday, chairman Wapda was asked why a project worth Rs4 billion was completed for Rs36 billion,” he said, adding that he had also raised concerns about Ghani’s appointment.

“Electricity meters were removed from my house and my relatives' houses late at night for asking questions,” Masti Khel claimed. “Not only were meters removed, but threats were also made to demolish buildings,” he added.

He said he had received no prior notice or communication from Wapda and asserted that he was neither a defaulter nor had committed any wrongdoing. “If the dam issue has been sent to NAB, then it is definitely my crime,” he said firmly.

Terming the action an insult to parliament, the PTI lawmaker said it was not just an attack on him but on the integrity of the entire Public Accounts Committee. “If there are retaliatory actions for asking questions in the PAC, then how will the committee do its job?” he questioned.

The PAC members expressed their unanimous condemnation of the incident and demanded that the matter be brought to the attention of the speaker of the National Assembly and called for taking stern action. 

Masti Khel reaffirmed his commitment to transparency. “We will keep asking such questions in the future for accountability and transparency. Electricity meter or transformer is not a big problem, but this is an insult to parliament,” he asserted.