KARACHI – The degree of the suspended Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), Imtiaz Lodhi, will be send to Higher Education Commission or a charter accountancy firm for verification in the board meeting of PSM scheduled on February 4, 2011.
While the current acting CEO Wasif Mehmood appointed by the board had been posted to Lahore as a Deputy Manager before being appointed as CEO, he was serving as Director Production in the mills for the last three years, sources informed Pakistan Today. He was on leave when it was announced that he would be taking over as CEO of the mills and the reason for his leave was apparently for his transition period as he assumed duties as deputy manager at the Lahore office, sources said, adding that the suspended CEO was called by Public Accounts Committee on January 18.
However, Imtiaz Lodhi denied being called up by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and claimed he had written to PAC to call on him and that he was willing to furnish evidence that his degree is original. Sources also indicated that the Ministry of Industries wrote to the board to take a decision on Lodhi and that the board then suspended him, while the name for the permanent CEO of the mills will also be released to the board on the scheduled meeting on February 4, 2011.
A board member while speaking to Pakistan Today said that Wasif Mehmood is the most senior staff member of the mills and he was made CEO on that basis, as this post could not remain unoccupied for long periods of time. Imtiaz Lodhi, when contacted, said that he is ready to be reinstated on his previous position by the board as he has possesses all required proof regarding the authenticity of his degree. He also informed that he had written to PAC to contact him for further verification.
He insisted it came as a great personal shock to him that the board had accused him of corruption and that if he had committed corruption; it was up to the court to determine his culpability and the charges leveled against him. He also speculated that a conspiracy had been hatched against him. Imtiaz informed that he had received his degree from United Kingdom.
