Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has sought certified information pertaining to corruption allegations on Secretary to Prime Minister Fawad Hassan Fawad under Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002.
PTI senior leader Andleeb Abbas, in her letter to PM Nawaz Sharif, demanded that being the citizen of Pakistan and a taxpayer, under the Article 19-A of the Constitution of Pakistan and Freedom of Information Ordinance, 2002, she should be provided certified information regarding corruption allegations on Fawad Hassan.
The letter reads, ‘Prime minister your statement on May 6, 2017 that there is so much corruption in the country that if we get involved in probing all our time will be consumed in the investigations and we will not be able to deliver, is tantamount to abandoning the biggest issue in the country where public money is being misused without accountability.’
She said that this may be the reason why corruption was flourishing under your nose in PM’s Office. “Fawad Hassan is an example of cronyism and nepotism and there are serious charges of corruption and misuse of public office against him,” the letter reads.
In her letter, she said that a call attention notice against Fawad was presented in the NA by MNA Mohammad Safdar and was backed by most lawmakers.
This notice was on allegations that Hassan was calling the shots in matters relating to promotion of senior bureaucrats and promoting officers through favouritism.
Andleeb questioned that despite the call attention notice in NA why an enquiry against this misuse of public office has not taken place? Similarly, she writes that Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada resigned in protest over Fawad’s corruption and undue intervention in his ministry, who said that Hassan was involved in billions of rupees of corruption.
The PTI leader posed a question that why has this serious allegation of wasting taxpayer’s money not been referred to FIA, NAB or a JIT formed to examine illegal acts that are forcing a minister to resign.
The letter further reads that the Supreme Court in its short order dated March 13, 2017 annulled the promotion of senior bureaucrats who were promoted in May 2015 on the recommendations of the Central Selection Board (CSB) and Hassan was one of the officers demoted as per SC order.
On the very first day when you (PM) assumed the office on June 5, 2013, you appointed Hassan as additional secretary to the PM’s Office. On November 20, 2015, bypassing 150 senior officers he was promoted secretary to PM. She questioned why is he still on his post after SC demotion orders?
About the Dawn Leaks inquiry committee report, she said that it was prepared by using million of rupees of public money but has not been shared with the public despite finance minister and interior minister’s statements on record that Dawn Leaks report would be made public.
Therefore, she said that right to information law demands that the “unedited” version of this report must be made public.
Andleeb requested that she should be provided certified information and respond to these questions within 21 days as specified in the Freedom of Information Ordinance, 2002.
