Govt issues another notice to NICL investigator
In what appears to be a violation of Supreme Court orders, the federal government has issued a show-cause notice to Zafar Qureshi, the Federal Investigation Agency officer, who is also the former lead investigator into the financial scam at the National Insurance Company Ltd (NICL).
Qureshi, who had been suspended from his position within a day of being restored to it by the Supreme Court, has been given 24 hours to respond to the notice. The Supreme Court had ordered the government on July 7 to halt all disciplinary action against Qureshi until it was able to investigate the matter further.
Meanwhile, the government has also not yet complied with the Supreme Court’s orders to cancel the transfer orders of Qureshi’s team of investigators, all four of whom had been transferred to what appeared to be punishment assignments in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Sources familiar with the matter told The Express Tribune that the interior ministry has held Qureshi responsible for several stories that have appeared in the media about the investigation and asked him to respond to the allegations within 24 hours.
Government officials are barred from leaking information to the press.
The government appears to have made up its mind to not follow the Supreme Court’s orders, said sources who wished to remain anonymous.
Meanwhile, the state-run Pakistan Television began airing news stories that gave prominent coverage to Rai Bashir, the lawyer for Moonis Elahi, one of the principal accused in the case.
Senior members of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) appeared to defend the government’s apparent defiance.
Former law minister Babar Awan said that “just as the prime minister cannot transfer a judge, so too the Supreme Court cannot transfer any officer of the executive branch of government.”
Awan said that the government will not implement any Supreme Court orders that “collide with the constitution and the law,” though he did not specify which specific orders he was referring to.
Sources said that the first show-cause notice was issued to Qureshi at 2 am on July 3. The notice asked him to submit a reply within 24 hours but on July 7, the court said that such a notice needed a minimum of 7 to 14 days for a reply to be submitted.
The notice asks Qureshi to explain stories that have appeared in the media in which he was allegedly threatened with dire consequences unless he accepted one of three options: go on an indefinite leave, write to the Supreme Court and state that he is unwilling to investigate the NICL case, or declare Moonis Elahi not guilty.
Qureshi himself refused to comment when contacted by The Express Tribune.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2011.
COMMENTS (2)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1718122402-0/will-ferrel-(1)1718122402-0-405x300.webp "article")
1726819153-0/BeFunky-collage-(18)1726819153-0-165x106.webp "article")
1724146069-0/Untitled-design-(2)1724146069-0-270x192.webp "jui f pti to prepare constitutional draft")
@Mirza: Why to talk of both sides.Well planned agenda to accommodate ZQ in PMLN in next elections seems to have backing of certain so called nonpolitical institutional personalities who are fully obliged to aspiring political stalwarts.It seems Government feels that its writ is being challenged by judiciary.I wonder why only judiciary is banking upon ZQ only.The institutions are stronger than personalities.Perhaps ZQ and his patronisers do forget that their is no evading the destiny and they will face a louder music.
The executive and judiciary should not try to take over each other's functions. This does not happen in any civilized country. The executive makes all the appointments and judiciary interprets the constitution. Without taking sides both institutions should mind their own business and pay attention to the more important needs of the nation. This is all the more important due to the fact that Zafar Qureshi is going to retire in a couple of months and would most likely join PML-N for next elections. All of a sudden one person so close to his retirement has become so important, as if there never was as honest man before or after his retirement? The institutions and system must be more important than personalities, I am talking about both sides.