ISLAMABAD - To review and make recommendations on the Supreme Court directives to State Bank of Pakistan for the release of Rs 21 billion for holding general elections in Punjab, an emergency meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance has been convened today. In order to review the Supreme Court’s order to directly release Rs 21 billion, the notice for the standing committee meeting was issued over the weekend (Sunday). “Meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue will be held on 17 April, 2023 to discuss and propose recommendations in response to media reports that Hon Supreme Court of Pakistan directed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to release funds to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the purpose of holding the election of Punjab Assembly without prior approval of the National Assembly,” said the meeting notice.
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The standing committee will give recommendations after reviewing the court order for the release of Rs 21 billion directly to the State Bank of Pakistan. It is worth mentioning here that the Supreme Court of Pakistan had Friday directed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to allocate Rs21 billion for holding of general elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies by April 17. The Supreme Court also ordered the State Bank and the Finance Ministry to file the compliance reports on April 18, 23, while the finance ministry report shall also include a confirmation in relation to the AGPR. The Election Commission of Pakistan was also asked to file a report on April 18, 2023 confirming that Rs21 billion have become available to it. The committee has specially invited the Federal Minister of Law, Federal Minister of Commerce, Attorney General of Pakistan, Auditor General of Pakistan and Governor State Bank for the meeting.
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It is also merit to mention that the Finance Committees of the National Assembly and the Senate have already rejected the bills related to election funds. Besides the Supreme Court order, the NA Committee will confirm minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee held on 13th April, 2023. The committee will also discuss the comprehensive report/implementation status of the previous recommendations of the Committee.