ISLAMABAD – After consulting the government, Establishment Secretary Abdul Rauf Chaudhry on Friday informed the Supreme Court that FIA Director General Waseem Ahmed could not be immediately removed from office as he was dealing with matters pertaining to national security.
A five-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Ghulam Rabbani, was hearing a suo motu case against corruption and mismanagement in the Haj affairs and re-employment of civil servants on a contractual basis.
The SC said a secret summary pertaining to the FIA DG was “a classified joke of the year”, observing that a device was being adopted to violate the court’s order. During the hearing, the interior secretary presented a classified document stating that the FIA DG could not be removed from office as he was dealing matters pertaining to national security, to which the chief justice said, “A device is being adopted by the government to violate the court order,” adding however, that it would become a joke if someone read the secret summary.
He said it should be kept as a secret document. The chief justice said the court was moving patiently, however its orders were not being implemented in its true letter and spirit. “Everyone knows how the court is dealing with the matters per law and the constitution,” he said, adding, “We are not against anyone but we have to follow the principle of law.”
He observed that the court knew that “its independent decisions are not being liked as the culture is changing”, adding however, that the court had to carry out its duty at any cost. Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, counsel for the federation sough more time, saying that he could not take instructions from his client.
“What will be the possible solution to this matter?” the chief justice asked. Abdul Hafeez Pirzada stated that on having received a notice along with the order of March 7, 2011, it had become necessary to submit a reply on behalf of the federation, as he said that the scope of re-employment on the contractual basis had been enlarged by applying Article 9 of the constitution, which deals with the fundamental right of a person.
The court pointed out to him that the government was required to look into the cases of the officers of the disciplinary forces, such as police and the FIA, who had been re-employed on a contractual basis for various periods after superannuation. The court observed that the FIA DG was still continuing, adding that without prejudice to his case on merits, the court had made observations against him from time to time regarding poor investigation into the case.
The court in its order observed that when other members of the disciplinary forces had been removed, the FIA DG’s retention, prima facie, seemed to be discriminatory, that is, against the provisions of Article 25. Jawed Bukhari, FIA additional director general, submitted a report and stated that significant progress had been made in the investigation and further incriminating material was being collected to ascertain the involvement of the people in the commission of offence.
The court however, pointed out that he had to conduct the investigation independently and should make all-out efforts to bring the culprits to the book. Meanwhile, Abdul Hafeez Pirzada requested the court to adjourn the case, enabling him to have some time to file a reply and make submission in response to the court’s order of March 7, 2011.
The court allowed Pirzada to seek response from the government about complying with the court and adjourned the hearing until March 16.
