ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to appoint Director General Immigration and Passports Usman Bajwa as chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and has moved a summary in this regard with the relevant quarters.
However, confusion still persists as Islamabad Mayor Sheikh Anser Aziz has not yet been de-notified as the CDA chairman by the Establishment Division. The Establishment Division has forwarded the summary for Bajwa’s appointment to the Cabinet Division, which is now the competent authority as per the newly amended CDA Ordinance.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, PM’s Principal Secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad and Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Minister Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry had been contemplating on the matter since the IHC’s deadline given on December 29.
The IHC had given the federal government the deadline to appoint chairman CDA while removing Islamabad Mayor Sheikh Anser Aziz from the post of CDA chairman, declaring both his notifications as an ex-officio member and CDA chief illegal.
The post was vacant since the IHC removed Aziz stating that his appointment falls under ‘conflict of interest’ as he is the owner of a construction company which has a history of working with the authority.
The court had ruled that his appointment violated section 6 read with section 8 of the CDA Ordinance and law enunciated by the Supreme Court (SC) and directed the federal government to initiate a selection process to zero down on an eligible person for a fixed term as specified under section 6(3) of the ordinance and his appointment as the chairman for a fixed five-year period.
The newly appointed CDA chief Usman Bajwa is a grade 20 officer and belongs to the 20th common of PAS.
During his two-year-long tenure at the immigration and passport department, a scandal about Bajwa’s embezzlement of funds and his corruption in awarding tenders for purchasing machines for e-passporting had surfaced and made headlines.
He was also accused of remaining absent from his office for four months during a four-month-long Senior Management Course (SMC) at the National Defence University (NDU) which badly affected immigration and passport routine matters for citizens.
