The Supreme Court (SC) ordered on Friday the removal of former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) additional director general Syed Javed Hussain Bukhari from his current post of Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) deputy director general.
The court also told Establishment Division Secretary Abdur Rauf Chaudhry to bring back Hussain Asghar, the FIA’s former director, who was allegedly sidelined from the task of investigating the Haj scam and posted as Gilgit-Baltistan police inspector general. A five-member larger bench of the SC comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Muhammad Sair Ali, Justice Tariq Parvez and Justice Ghulam Rabbani was hearing a suo motu case pertaining to corruption and mismanagement in Haj arrangements.
The court told Chaudhry to take disciplinary action against Bukhari and submit a compliance report to the court within four weeks. The court also issued a show-cause notice to Bukhari for disassociating himself from the investigation of the Haj scam. The court stated that Bukhari had surrendered by separating himself from the investigation, which was misconduct.
At the beginning of the hearing, Bukhari and Asghar both filed their replies to the court. Justice Muhammad Sair Ali asked Bukhari why he had dissociated himself from the investigation, to which he replied that FIA Director General Malik Muhammad Iqbal had given a wrong statement before the court that he (Bukhari) wanted to be disassociated from the investigation of Hajj scam.
He said the letter he had written to the FIA chief, stating that the SC was not satisfied with his performance in the Haj scam investigation, was not based on any mala fide. He said he had also written to the FIA chief that his letter should not be presented as justification for his posting to ANF. The chief justice asked Bukhari why he was promoted when the court was not satisfied with his performance, which he had conceded.
Addressing the FIA chief, the chief justice said: “The whole matter relates to you, so for how long can we tolerate you? The court might give you another contempt of court notice.” The court noted that the FIA chief did nothing to stop the transfer of both officials.
Iqbal said he had placed himself at the mercy of the court. Bukhari told the court that he had not disassociated himself from the investigation, instead he had received a notice from the Establishment Division asking him to stop the investigation. He said further that during the investigation, he had been offered bribes but he never compromised on his principles and remained committed to his professional duties.
The chief justice observed that the honest people could not receive any such offer, whereas dishonest people often received such offers, adding that nobody dared to make such an offer to honest and dutiful people. Addressing the FIA chief, Justice Tariq Parvez said that usually when an officer was taken off a case, he or she would have to face disciplinary action and would be highly unlikely to receive a promotion.
The chief justice stated that the court might issue notices to the interior and establishment secretaries. The FIA chief suggested to the court that another officer, Inam Ghani, be appointed as an alternative investigation officer, which the court accepted.
The court also summoned the record of Asghar’s promotion, noting that the decision for action against the FIA chief would be made after going through the record.
Appearing on notice, Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq stated that the summary sent to the Prime Minister for bringing back both officials investigating the Haj scam was not yet returned.
