- Iftikhar Arif has UK’s passport
ISLAMABAD: At least a dozen civil servants hold dual nationalities, stated a circular issued by the Establishment Division following the media reports of many bureaucrats being dual nationals.
Following the reports, the Establishment Division had sought details from the civil servants concerning the dual nationalities.
Two secretaries belonging to the Human Rights and Board of Investment departments declared their dual nationalities of New Zealand and the United Kingdom, respectively; whereas, the director general of National Language Promotion Department, Iftikhar Arif, also holds a UK nationality, the circular disclosed.
In addition to this, Iqbal Muhammad of the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP), Ijaz Hussain Shah, Zaeem Iqbal Shiekh and Hamaio Masood Sindho are dual nationals.
In addition, Sarfaraz Hussain and Dr Ajmal, BSP 20, and Aslam Rao, BSP 18, disclosed that they are dual nationals.
According to the circular, two commerce ministry’s officers Muhammad Arshaf and Zafar Feroze stated that they do not have the nationality of any country; however, their dependents are dual nations of America and England.
An officer privy to the development told Pakistan Today on condition of anonymity that a number of civil servants keep the Mepal card of Canada; however, it was not mentioned in the circular if the Mepal card holders provided their information.
Recently, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) terminated one officer when it was disclosed that he possessed the Mepal card.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court asked the federal departments to submit lists of all officers holding dual nationalities within 15 days.
During the hearing, the Establishment secretary told the court that only seven officers had been identified with dual nationality; however, responses from 20 departments were still awaited.
It was also disclosed in the Supreme Court’s hearing pertaining to the dual nationality case that Justice Jawwad Hassan and KK Agha of Lahore and Sindh High Court, respectively, hold dual nationalities by birth.
Similarly, In Punjab, two judges – Ashfaq Ahmad Rana and Farkhanda Arshad – are holding dual nationality.
Rashda Asad in Sindh, Farukh Ataullah Khan in KP and Samia Noreen in Islamabad’s judiciary are dual nationals.
It is pertinent to mention here that at present the judges and civil Servants are not legally barred from holding dual nationalities; however, when the top court led by former CJ of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had disqualified dozens of parliamentarians for holding dual nationalities, the members of parliament campaigned for a ban on judges and government officials for the same.
