This clarification was made by PAC’s chief Hasan Arifin today.

He said contrary to popular belief, the final audit report on 1MDB was classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972 — until the PAC report on the struggling state investment firm’s alleged mismanagement was tabled in Parliament.

“This differs from the annual Auditor-General’s Report , which is first tabled in Parliament, making it a public document. This is the usual practice after which the report will then be presented to the PAC by the Auditor-General.

“The PAC would usually pick several topics from the report to be discussed further in our proceedings,” said Hasan in a statement issued today.

However, the Auditor-General’s report on the ongoing 1MDB probe skipped all normal procedures in line with the Cabinet’s decision on March 5 last year, to have it forwarded straight to the PAC.

“The decision to classify the report as such is within the Auditor-General’s prerogative.

“He has the legal power to protect the department’s credibility and secrets from being leaked to irresponsible parties who may then paint a negative perception of the department as well as the PAC,” added Hasan.

PAC member and DAP lawmaker Tony Pua, when met after a meeting by the parliamentary panel where the Auditor-General’s report was tabled today, said that he was “reasonably happy” with the audit done.

“We are reasonably happy with the report,” the Petaling Jaya Utara MP said.

He said the committee had yet to complete its probe on allegations of mismanagement within 1MDB.

The need to call in any more witnesses would only be decided after the committee had reviewed the Auditor-General’s report thoroughly, he added.