Abuse of office: IHC accepts petition against Tariq Fatemi

Petitioner claims assistant to the PM has abused office for personal gain

ISLAMABAD: A lawyer has filed a petition before the Islamabad High Court against alleged abuses of office and misappropriation by the prime minister’s special assistant on foreign affairs Tariq Fatemi.

Advocate Raja Zahoorul Hassan said the PM had appointed Fatemi as his special assistant in June 2013, after which the assistant has “imposed himself upon the ministry of foreign affairs and has virtually taken over” the office of the minister of state of foreign affairs and enjoys “unauthorised” access to sensitive ministry documents.

The petition stated that the special assistant to the prime minister is not a constitutional post and that Fatemi does not possess executive authority.

In the petition, it is alleged that Fatemi misused his authority to obtain a grant of $71,000 from a foreign embassy for a non-governmental organisation, True Worth Foundation, which is run by his wife. In addition, the petitioner alleged that Fatemi used his authority to transfer a 10 kanal plot belonging to All Pakistan Foreign Office Women’s Association in H-8 to a private school.

The petitioner also cites what he claims are irregularities in the appointment of the incumbent Pakistani ambassador to Qatar.

The petition requested the court to direct the respondents to withdraw the 2013 notification and order investigation against Fatemi.

IHC Justice Athar Minallah would hear the petition on Wednesday.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2016.