FIA to arrest former Nadra chairman

Despite knowing Malik is out of the country, a team of FIA officials visited his residence to arrest him.

ISLAMABAD: The government on Saturday issued arrest warrants against former National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) chairman Nadra Tariq Malik.

Despite knowing that Malik is currently out of the country, a team of three Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials visited Malik’s residence on Saturday to arrest him in connection with registered an FIR under section 163 CPC for concealing official facts.

Malik’s family members claimed that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar was using the FIA for his vested political interests.

“We will adopt a legal course. Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has already penned down a detailed judgment in favor of Tariq Malik—who left the country after two months of his resignation from the post, but FIA wants to arrest him now. The timing of this move is not incomprehensible,” said Professor Tahir Malik, brother of Tariq Malik, told The Express Tribune.

The FIA has accused Malik of not declaring himself as a government employee on his official passport. Malik was an IT expert and was hired as a technocrat by the government, Malik’s brother explained.

He said that Nisar had already told Parliament that a number of bureaucrats are dual nationals but there was no constitutional restriction on their appointment. A number of government advisors are currently dual nationals,  including Shujaat Azeem, aviation advisor to the Prime Minister.

An official of the agency told The Express Tribune that the option to issue red-warrants against Malik is also under consideration. The FIA had started probing about the interior ministry’s show-cause notice and charge-sheet prepared by the audit authorities.

The interior ministry, in the last week of December 2013, had issued a four-page show-cause notice to Malik, levelling charges against him of concealing facts, misuse of official powers and financial irregularities.

In his detailed verdict, Justice Qureshi of IHC held that the government’s decision to remove Malik from the Nadra chief’s post and levelling charges against him was a mala fide intention.

A close aide of Malik told The Express Tribune that due to security threats, Malik had decided to leave Pakistan. He said that Malik was forced to quit from the slot of chairman Nadra and was later threatened with dire consequences.

Allegations

On December 31, after initiating a formal inquiry, FIA had summoned the Nadra chairman to file his reply about the irregularities discovered within the organization. However, Malik did not appear before the inquiry committee.

“I am constrained to believe that the FIA’s inquiry is part of the smear and victimisation campaign which is a sequel to my sudden removal without following due process,” Malik had said earlier.

In a surprise move, the government removed Malik on the night of December 3, 2013 and appointed a new chairman within hours. However, the IHC had reinstated him the next morning and suspended his termination orders.

The Nadra chairman had written in a letter to the FIA rejecting allegations levelled against him by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

Saga

The chairman’s sacking had come only days after an election tribunal asked Nadra to verify the thumb impressions of voters from the Lahore constituency NA-118, won by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Malik Riaz.

On December 12, Malik had insisted that no rules were violated upon his assumption of office, dismissing a government claim that his appointment was illegal.

He had also clarified that his appointment as member (of authority) was not a promotion, nor did it involve or entail any financial consequences since he did not draw any remuneration.

The opposition parties had teamed up against the government over his sacking as they built up their case that the move was aimed at concealing rigging in the May 11, 2013 general elections.

The Express Tribune had also learnt that an audit team – on the wishes of National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and the interior minister – had prepared a 14-point charge-sheet against the Nadra chief.