ISLAMABAD: A dramatic session of the National Assembly Standing Committee on IT and Telecom on Monday took an unexpected turn when Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) told lawmakers it was not obligated to respond to their questions — igniting a storm of outrage and suspicion around the company’s controversial property dealings.
The committee, led by former federal minister Syed Amin ul Haq, was reviewing PTCL’s recent announcement to auction a valuable property on Karachi’s I.I. Chundrigar Road. But what began as a standard inquiry quickly escalated into a governance crisis.
PTCL’s legal team, headed by Group Chief Legal Officer Zahida Awan and joined by senior advisors Naveed Butt and Mazhar Hussain, claimed that the company’s Memorandum of Association authorized it to sell its properties — without needing approval from any government body. When pressed to cite exact clauses of the Sale and Purchase Agreement that would support this authority, the team failed to produce convincing documentation.
What truly shook the room, however, was the assertion by advisor Mazhar Hussain that PTCL was not answerable to any parliamentary committee. He argued that since management control had been transferred to UAE-based Etisalat, questions about land sales should be directed to the Ministry of IT or to Etisalat itself — not to PTCL.
That claim was met with fierce resistance from committee members, who pointed out that PTCL, though partially privatized, remains a state-owned entity subject to parliamentary oversight. MNA Sher Ali Arbab expressed frustration at what he called “stonewalling tactics” by the company. Dr. Mahesh Kumar Malani urged the committee to take the matter to its logical conclusion and ensure no public asset is sold without accountability.
Adding to the confusion, a representative of the Privatisation Commission revealed that under Clause 6 of the Agreement with Etisalat, the Commission is legally barred from disclosing agreement details without mutual consent from both parties. Lawmakers saw this as an intentional loophole preventing transparency.
Fearing deliberate concealment, the committee resolved to hold an in-camera meeting at the end of July. It will summon representatives from the IT Ministry, Law Ministry, Privatisation Commission, and Etisalat to examine the original Sale and Purchase Agreement in full.
In a separate discussion, the committee was briefed by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Major General (Retd.) Hafeez Ur Rehman on the financial collapse of Long Distance and International (LDI) operators. Nine companies have defaulted on nearly Rs19 billion in dues, with over 100 cases currently pending in courts. PTA has issued notices, and six firms have offered to pay through installments — prompting the formation of a sub-committee led by Sher Ali Arbab to create a structured recovery plan.
Attendees at the meeting included Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti, Sadiq Ali Memon, Ahmad Saleem Siddiqui, Pullain Baloch, and Umair Khan Niazi.
