The government has terminated the contract of PPP leader Fakhar Zaman as chairman, Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL), with effect from November 2010.
The Cabinet Division on Thursday terminated the contract of PAL Chairman Fakhar Zaman with effect from November 5, 2010, and directed him to relinquish the charge of his office immediately. “The Cabinet Division has directed Fakhar Zaman to relinquish the charge of PAL chairmanship immediately on the instructions received from the Prime Minister’s Secretariat through Establishment Division,” said a senior official of PAL.
He said Fakhar’s contract was suspended on November 5, 2010, but he illegally continued to enjoy perks and privileges of PAL worth millions of rupees. The official said the decision about the ‘illegal’ chairmanship of Fakhar Zaman and the perks and privileges he enjoyed during his stay after November 5, 2010 has yet to be taken by the government. He added that after the suspension of Fakhar’s contract, the government time and again asked him to relinquish his charge, but he paid no heeds towards the verbal orders.
It is relevant to note here that during his tenure of chairmanship, Fakhar Zaman spent most of his time abroad. Recently, he came back from a month-long personal tour of European countries, including Holland, Austria, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Hungry, France, Lit Vita, Estonia and Sweden.