The National Assembly on Monday rejected a demand for releasing supplementary grant from Federal Consolidated Fund to hold election to the provincial assembly of Punjab.
It observed that only the Lower House of Parliament had the authority to give any amount from the Federal Consolidated Fund.
Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar moved the supplementary demand of Rs 21 billion in the House to meet the expenditures for elections in Punjab.
“The Federal Cabinet has referred the matter to the National Assembly which had the authority to approve or disapprove additional expenses under Articles 82 (2) and 84 of the Constitution,” he said, adding the amount in the Federal Consolidated Fund except charged expenditure could be only given after approval of the august House as no other institution had any authority in that regard.
He said the Supreme Court in its order directed to get ex-post facto approval of it but the Standing Committee on Finance had directed the Finance Division to take up the issue in Federal Cabinet and deliberate it in the form of a demand or bill.
He said the appropriate forum was the National Assembly, “which accords approval of expenses from the Federal Consolidated Fund” and that was why the cabinet had referred the matter to the House.
The NA’s Standing Committee on Finance earlier decided to forward the matter of releasing Rs 21 billion funds for Punjab elections to the National Assembly as a three-member bench in the case of delay in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elections had ordered the State Bank of Pakistan on April 14, 2023, to directly issue Rs 21 billion for the elections and submit its report on April 18.
The committee, after a briefing, decided to take the matter to the Parliament after approval from the Federal Cabinet.
The law minister said the Supreme Court had ordered provision of funds for the Punjab elections, but no funds in that regard were kept in the Federal Consolidated Fund.
For the release of funds as a supplementary grant, the National Assembly’s nod was necessary, he said and moved the supplementary demand 64-A which was rejected by the House.
