Anti-corruption official: Another NRO beneficiary reappointed

Sajjad Haider was sacked twice for corruption, once following SC order on NRO.

ISLAMABAD:

The government has reinstated another beneficiary of the now defunct National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) who was sacked by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in compliance with the Supreme Court order last year.

Former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director Sajjad Haider was working as senior staff officer to Interior Minister Rehman Malik when he was fired along with other NRO beneficiaries.

“The services of former FIA director Sajjad Haider have been restored and an official notification has been issued in this regard,” a senior official at the Interior Ministry told The Express Tribune requesting anonymity.

The interior minister approved the summary and sent it to the Establishment Division for further orders, the official added. Haider has been appointed as deputy director for anti-corruption, Rawalpindi Zone.

Establishment Division Secretary Abdul Rauf Chaudhry confirmed that they had received the summary for Haider’s reinstatement, but said nothing about the official notification for his reappointment.

Haider was earlier twice dismissed from service for corruption. In 2001, he was sacked after a departmental inquiry found him guilty of corruption and misuse of authority. He was reinstated in July 2008 with retrospective effect from 2001. He was sacked again by the then interior secretary on corruption charges in October 2008.

Interior Minister Malik reappointed Haider as his senior staff officer in October 2010, despite criticism from government officials. He was dismissed from that position by the prime minister in the light of the Supreme Court order.

Official sources told The Express Tribune that Haider had challenged the premier’s order in the Federal Services Tribunal, claiming that he was sacked on the directions of Nargis Sethi, the then principal secretary to Gilani.

The tribunal sought an explanation from the Prime Minister’s Secretariat regarding the notification of Haider’s dismissal. During the proceedings, the government decided to reappoint Haider to his post for a fourth time, officials told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2011.