The sincerity of the government to curb crime and corruption in the country can be gauged from the fact that 784 posts of the sanctioned strength in the premier investigation agency – the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) – are currently lying vacant. The Senate was informed in a written reply by Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Friday that 198 officers were working in the FIA while 784 posts were lying vacant in the agency.
Talking to Pakistan Today, former FIA additional DG Zafar Qureshi said the corrupt government was turning FIA into a dysfunctional body like National Accountability Bureau (NAB). “Corrupt leadership of the country wants to see corruption and crime flourish in the country… they (rulers) are either appointing corrupt officers in FIA or not filling vacant posts so that the investigation agency’s smooth and transparent functioning could be hampered,” Qureshi said.
He said on behest of corrupt leadership, FIA officers had spoiled the investigations into the multi-billion rupee scams of National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) and Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM). The House was told that five seats of assistant director (Investigation), 22 seats of inspector (Investigation), 42 seats of inspector legal, 12 seats of sub-inspector (Investigation), five seats of female sub-inspector (Immigration), and 62 seats of assistant sub-inspector (Investigation) were lying vacant in the FIA.
Adil Gilani, head of Transparency International Pakistan, said Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had already observed that the FIA was not working and the crucial position of the federal ombudsman was also lying vacant.