Rejoinder: Kayani rubbishes ex-ECP official’s allegations

Says Afzal Khan accused ECP officials because he was denied extension

LAHORE:

Justice (retd) Riaz Kayani, a member of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from Punjab, has hit back at former ECP Additional Secretary Muhammad Afzal Khan who accused him of ‘sabotaging’ the 2013 elections and of having ties with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

“Afzal Khan came on national television and accused many people because I and other ECP members had not acceded to his unbridled desires for an extension in service and promotion,” Kayani said while addressing a news conference on Monday.

Khan’s retirement was due right after the May 2013 general elections, but he tried to get an extension, Kayani said. In the ECP, important decisions are taken with the consensus of the four members and the chief election commissioner (CEC) and, Kayani said that he had strongly opposed the extension and termed it against the Service Rules.

“The former ECP additional secretary was promoted from BPS-20 to BPS-21 and from there, in a year’s time he submitted an application seeking a promotion on a regular basis to BPS-22,” Kayani alleged. Again, in accordance with the law, he strongly opposed Khan’s request.

“There must be another force behind the scenes as it doesn’t make sense for him to wait for 18 months to reveal the rigging allegations,” Kayani claimed.

Refuting another allegation of his salary being Rs1 million in addition to pension, Kayani said that his salary was far less. He added that his pension was stopped on the orders of the Supreme Court and he had filed a review against that decision, which was his legal right. “I have never committed a deed that I would be ashamed of.”

Answering a question about the option of taking legal action against Khan and PTI chairman Imran Khan, he said the former additional secretary should be held accountable for levelling charges against former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, then CEC Fakhruddin G Ebrahim and two retired judges. The ECP has full power to go for contempt against all these allegations, he added.

Kyani said that he would never resign on the demand of Imran Khan and others who were making false claims to fulfil their ‘ulterior motives’.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2014.