Senate panel: Tariq claims receiving threats

ISLAMABAD:

While expressing concern over the unceremonious removal of NADRA chairman, who was immediately reinstated by the Islamabad High Court, the Senate Standing Committee on Interior directed the interior ministry to provide him foolproof security.

The committee took it seriously that the government had resorted to “an unlawful step” removing an officer only because he was verifying the fingerprints in the election results, particularly in Lahore, and in a constituency where some key politicians had not only managed to reach the assemblies but also hold top positions in the corridors of power.

The committee, with Senator Talha Mehmood in the chair, also criticised the government for appointing Brig (retd) Zahid Hussain as acting chairman NADRA, a very junior official against whom two serious cases had been pending, and he was even ‘found guilty’ in one.

The committee noted that in the light of Anita Turab’s judgment of the Supreme Court, no civil servant should obey wrongful orders of the authorities.

NADRA Chairman Tariq Malik told the committee that he was continuously receiving threatening calls from certain quarters, asking him to shun the verification process of votes in Lahore and he informed the government through letters and provided details of the phone numbers too.

Commenting on his removal, he said, I did not receive any notice before termination which is mandatory as per the NADRA Ordinance. A letter was dropped with a cheque at midnight at my home in my absence, and even my wife never received it.

“I cannot be removed unless there is a physical complication or any allegation of financial irregularities,” he maintained. “I would have resigned had the prime minster, interior minister or interior secretary asked me to do so with a valid reason but the unceremonious removal forced me to seek justice for the sake of my credibility,” said Malik.

He specifically mentioned that when he joined NADRA, there was only two months’ salary with the organisation. But now NADRA is a self-sufficient organisation, the 50th among the world’s top ranking organisations, he added.

Talha Mehmood said that NADRA chairman could be appointed and removed as per NADRA ordinance and it is the act of Parliament and no notification could nullify it.

Senator Shahi Syed noted that the proposed verification of fingerprints in the election results in Lahore is reason for removal of the NADRA chairman. “We are not talking about a person but about the rule of law and the contribution of the chairman because of whom NADRA has become one of the most credible organisations,” said Shahi Syed.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2013.