After using delay tactics for quite some time, the government finally refused on Tuesday to bring Gilgit-Baltistan Inspector General of Police (IGP) Hussain Asghar back to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to resume investigation of the Haj scam.
Expressing dismay over government’s refusal to comply with its orders, the Supreme Court observed that it would get its orders implemented at all costs. The court said if Asghar was not brought back to the FIA, it would take stern legal action against the officials responsible.
In compliance with the court’s earlier orders, Interior Secretary Khawaja Siddique Akbar had presented a report to a three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, which was hearing a suo motu case against corruption in Haj arrangements.
The report stated that Asghar could not be brought back to the FIA because of the security situation in Gilgit-Baltistan. During the hearing, the chief justice asked Babar Awan, counsel for the interior secretary, why the court’s orders regarding Asghar were not implemented in letter and spirit.
“Cancel his transfer orders, we will see who is the person not allowing Hussain Asghar to come back,” the chief justice told Awan. “His notification for repatriation to FIA has been issued and we will ask the establishment secretary to cancel his transfer orders,” the chief justice said.
Awan, however, told the court that the Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister was not relieving Asghar because of the security situation in the province. He said in order to bring back any official from a province, consultation with the chief minister of the province in question was mandatory.
He said the procedure for repatriation and transfer was the same, adding that “we are with the court in both situations”. The chief justice then told Awan that if he was with the court, he should bring Asghar back immediately. Awan assured the court that Asghar would be brought back immediately after Eid.
The chief justice also noted that the security situation was similar in Karachi, Balochistan and other areas of the country and questioned whether the transfers of officers in these embattled areas were stopped. Awan replied that there was a mechanism in place to bring back an official and the government was working according to that.
He said further that the court should realise the provinces were autonomous, and since Gilgit-Baltistan was an independent province, it was not under the federal government. The chief justice said Asghar was an employee of the federal government and therefore had to obey any orders given by the federal government.
The chief justice however observed that the judicial jurisdiction was established by orders of the apex court, adding that if Asghar did not want to come back, his cadre should be changed. Awan sought some more time to deal with the matter, which the court allowed and adjourned further hearing for two weeks.
