2010 Hajj scam: Gilgit-Baltistan police chief suspended, SC told

Supreme Court directs attorney general to transfer Hussain Asghar to the FIA.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court, on Thursday, was informed that the establishment division has suspended Gilgit-Baltistan Inspector General of Police Hussain Asghar from service for flouting orders of the bench hearing the 2010 hajj scam case.

During Thursday’s hearing, Attorney General Irfan Qadir produced the suspension notification of Asghar before a three-judge bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Qadir informed the bench that Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf had been apprised of the court’s order regarding the G-B police chief upon which the premier ordered immediate action against the official.

After receiving the suspension notification of the former Hajj scam investigator, the court adjourned the matter for an indefinite time.

Asghar was previously heading the investigation team probing the financial scam in the 2010 Hajj and was asked to report back to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) headquarters, where he was earlier serving as the director general. He, however, failed to do so.

Despite repeated orders to reinstate the FIA’s former director to his parent department to resume investigation into the Hajj scam, no action was taken until Thursday.

On June 5, the court even ordered then principal secretary to the prime minister Khushnood Akhtar Lashari to recall the notification appointing Asghar as the IG of the G-B police if he failed to rejoin the investigations in three days.

Meanwhile, during the proceedings Justice Jawwad S Khawaja remarked: “The matter is quite simple, for it does not pertain to a person, but to the rule of law.” Justice Khawaja expressed dissatisfaction, questioning how the government could ensure the supremacy of Section 10 of the Civil Servants Act if orders were defied so blatantly.

The attorney general told the apex court that Federal Secretary Imtiaz Inayat Elahi had been appointed as an inquiry officer for the departmental proceedings against Asghar for non-compliance of court orders.

The court told the attorney general to ensure Asghar’s transfer to the FIA and directed him to consult the prime minister for this purpose and submit a compliance report the same day.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2012.