The Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif accepted the appeal of former Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) operations Muhammad Ali Nekokara, has reinstated him and exonerated him from the major penalty of ‘dismissal from service’ which was imposed earlier.
The Establishment Division on Thursday has issued a notification stated that the intervening period of Nekokara shall be treated as leave of the kind due, subjected to title.
Establishment sources said that the said officer would be posted somewhere in near future.
In April 2015, the government dismissed former senior superintendent of Islamabad Police Operations from service, based on the recommendations of an inquiry into his conduct during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) 126 day sit-ins in 2014.
Then, the establishment secretary imposed “the major penalty of ‘Dismissal from service”, upon Nekokara with immediate effect on the grounds of proven charges including “inefficiency and misconduct”.
He was suspended in September 2014 after refusing to stop and later remove protesters after they advanced to Constitution Avenue.
On 26 of August 2014, in the backdrop of the Model Town incident on June 17, 2014, that claimed lives of citizens as a result of the clashes between the Punjab Police and PAT activists, and the rising political temperature in Islamabad, Nekokara sent a message to secretary interior saying he could not use force against the protesters.
Nekokara had written a detailed letter to the interior secretary highlighting the importance of not using force. In the letter, he explicitly referred to the mishandling of the Model Town incident, where the use of force led to the death of at least 14 PAT workers. In the letter, Nekokara also said he was averse to the use of force due to the large number of women and children at the sit-ins.
On Nekokara’s argument that the use of force was ‘disadvantageous for democracy’, the inquiry report clarified that his duties do not include assessing the political consequences of his actions as bureaucrats are meant to be apolitical in their conduct.
He advised the interior secretary that force should not be used against peaceful demonstrators. His concerns were ignored and, following the orders of the district magistrate, Nekokara resorted to the use of measured force, employing tear gas against the protesters on August 30. A day later, he was instructed by the government to disperse the sit-in protestors. Nekokara anticipated that after a prolonged and exhausting dharna, such action would result in events akin to those witnessed in Model Town, a repeat of which would be disadvantageous to the democratic system. He further feared that his supervisors and political leadership would, once again, fail to own and defend the officers involved should there be any loss of life.
Nekokara’s appeals were disregarded. Due to a difference of opinion, the SSP Operation then requested to be posted elsewhere. As was the fate of former IG Punjab Aftab Cheema, Nekokara was sent on forced leave and a few weeks later, he was charge-sheeted for refusing to follow orders against protesters. Then the Establishment Division has recommended Nekokara for dismissal on grounds of “disobedience”.
Earlier this month, the officer submitted an appeal to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif against his dismissal before going to the tribunal and the Supreme Court as per rules.
SSP Mohammad Ali Nekokara is a well-reputed officer with 19 years of civil and police service — an alumnus of the London School of Economics and Harvard — was confronted with a crowd of some 30,000 protesters in Islamabad’s Red Zone in August 2014.
According to some bureaucrats, he then calculated the risks of police action against PTI and PAT workers while keeping in view the potential retaliation that would be inflicted on Islamabad Police by the charged mob.
On 1st May 2015, the petitions have been filed by four retired top police officers in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) pleading reinstatement of former Inspector-General of Islamabad police (IGP) Aftab Ahmed Cheema and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Mohammad Ali Nekokara. They described the disciplinary actions against them illegal.
Being SSP operations, Nekokara issued instructions to the police force on August 27, 2014 saying “you are directed not to use batten, teargas or live fire at the protesters without fulfilling the due legal process and the explicit directions of the undersigned.”
Notwithstanding the aforesaid communication by Nekokara, the protesters began moving towards the Presidency and Prime Minister’s House. The police were instructed to use force against the protesters, which resulted in the loss of two lives and injuries to protesters and citizens, the petition read.