Suo motu case: Apex court asks for Salman Farooqi’s salary slips

AGPR says Farooqui has already refunded his salary for April 2013.

Salman Farooqi. PHOTO: ZAFAR ASLAM/EXPRESS

ISLAMABAD:


The Supreme Court on Thursday instructed the Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) to submit copies of salary slips issued to Salman Farooqi for two months after he was appointed as federal ombudsperson by the interim government.


A three-judge SC bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took up a suo motu case against Farooqi’s appointment following an application filed by Syed Adil Gillani, adviser to Transparency International Pakistan, on Thursday.


During the proceedings, the AGPR informed the court that Farooqi was paid for the months of March and April 2013 as federal ombudsman on manual request from his office and had already refunded his salary for April.

It was also revealed in court that Farooqi never took oath under the president as ombudsman since he was appointed as an acting ombudsman in November last year by the then prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.

In May, he sought permission to travel to the US as the president’s secretary general for his wife’s medical treatment. He was paid $25,000 for this purpose and his leave application was duly sanctioned by the then PM after legal consultation from the consultant Maulvi Anwarul Haq.

The bench also directed the managing director of the Printing Press of Pakistan to submit all notifications published in the official gazette regarding appointment of Farooqi as federal ombudsman.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5th, 2013.
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