LAHORE – The Accountant General Punjab has been made an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) on Thursday by Controller General of Accounts as a result of a tussle between the CGA and the AGP.

Official sources told TheNation that competent authority of Pakistan Audit & Accounts Service is only Auditor General of Pakistan, who has the administrative powers and can appoint or transfer all officials including the Accountant General Punjab. They said that present AGP Ch Muhammad Aslam was made OSD by CGA which is a non-competent authority and has no validity, as it has only functional control not administrative powers.
Few days ago, Accountant General Punjab Ch Aslam made transfers of around 20 officials of clerical ranks including a powerful person Bukhsh Elahi. Mr Elahi has closed relations with Controller General of Accounts, and on his influence, his transfer was also stopped by the CGA. It is worth mentioning that union of AG Office is very strong and powerful
Other officials who have been working in AG Office illegally for the last 15 years and were transferred by AG Punjab to other cities are also upset. Legally, all AG Office staff should be rotated in whole province after three years at least. Hence, the row between union and AG Punjab led to the tussle between AG Punjab and CGA, which concluded in the victory of powerful union, as AG Punjab has been transferred.
They said that Controller General of Accounts is the principal Accounts Adviser to the Government of Pakistan and is only responsible for establishing and maintaining a technically sound management accounting system. He prepares a critical analysis of expenditures, revenues, borrowings and the deficit for the Finance Minister every month and has no administrative power and nothing to do with that of transfers.