—Court orders reinvestigation against Ministry of Climate Change deputy secretary for occupying multiple government residences
ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court issued an order in response to the writ petition filed by former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director Inam Ghani against the Ministry of Climate Change Deputy Secretary Mureed Rahimoon. The court has ordered reinvestigation to ascertain whether Rahimoon is entitled to maintain two government residences, one in Pakistan and the other abroad.
The case was being heard in the court of Justice Athar Minullah where the main allegation was that the accused had been availing the facility of dual official accommodations illegally and unlawfully.
According to the relevant laws and regulations, a civil servant could only retain official accommodation in Pakistan with the approval of the Ministry of Housing. It is pertinent to mention here that the civil servant in question also needed to fulfill the condition of not having an official accommodation while posted abroad.
Sources privy to the development confided in Pakistan Today that by concealing facts, the officer concerned obtained a second accommodation abroad with a rent of US $5,300 per month, thus causing losses worth millions of rupees to the national exchequer.
Deputy Director Abdul Rauf, under the supervision of National Response Centre for Cyber Crimes Director Captain Shoaib, had previously declared Rahimoon innocent. However, Justice Minullah had ordered that FIA director general (DG) should get the whole case reinvestigated through a senior officer. It merits mention here that estate office and audit department had recommended recovery of the mentioned amount from the said official.
The court had asked FIA DG to submit a report in this connection within three weeks and adjourned the proceedings of the trial court till the filing of a report.
Moreover, the court also ordered that Inam Ghani, the petitioner and officer of Police Services of Pakistan, be considered for promotion during the central selection board meeting scheduled to be held on March 19. The court removed all bars on the promotion of the petitioner, provided he was eligible for promotion per government rules.
According to sources, a large number of officers have illegally availed dual accommodations which had causes losses of billions of rupees to the national exchequer. It is important to mention here that an operation was already underway against bureaucrats holding dual nationalities.
The Establishment Division, provincial governments, and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) were in the process of getting the credentials of their officers verified in order to prepare lists of bureaucrats who were dual nationals.
