ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday suspended certain clauses within the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment Rules 2014 which required the provincial anti-graft watchdog to obtain a chief minister’s permission before taking action against top-level bureaucrats.
A two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar took up a petition filed by ACE Director General Hussain Asghar in which he stated that it is mandatory for the body to take permission from the chief minister before initiating proceedings against any high-profile bureaucrat.
“If the chief minister does not give the go-ahead, the body cannot even file an FIR [First Information Report] against a bureaucrat,” Asghar said.
The court subsequently suspended Rules 5, 6 and 10 of the ACE rules in which certain sub-rules pertain to obtaining the chief minister’s permission prior to taking action against senior bureaucrats.