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Another NRO-hit Baboo reappointed

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who had to retreat on the appointment of an NRO beneficiary Adnan Khawaja as MD OGDC, has reinstated another NRO beneficiary, despite strong opposition by the interior ministry.

A BS 18 FIA official Sajjad Haider, considered close to influential figures, has now been taken back in the government service. When contacted, PM’s Principal Secretary Nargis Sethi confirmed the reinstatement but evaded the question on how an NRO bene-ficiary could be reinstated, saying she would have to check the record.

Sajjad was first dismissed in 2001, only to be reinstated illegally in 2008 by the then secretary interior. He faced dismissal again in March 2010 when the present Secretary Qamar Zaman found his reinstatement illegal and also on account of his being an NRO be-neficiary. Sajjad consequently went to court that granted him a stay order till his appeal to the PM for reinstatement was decided.

Qamar Zaman, however, did not oblige the stay order on the grounds that Sajjad’s appeal to the PM was time-barred and made this point before the court when served with the contempt notice.

The FIA had already opposed the reinstatement. Sajjad was a co-accused with a minister in accountability references but was par-doned after conviction by the presidency along with the main ac-cused.

Sajjad had, on March 31, confirmed to The News that the cases against him were still pending in the court as theamnesty granted through the NRO had been revoked after the court’s verdict but he stopped short of saying anything else on his status as an NRO beneficiary. “I’m not in a position to comment,” was all he had said then.

His latest reinstatement raises more questions towards the se-riousness of the government regarding the implementation of the NRO verdict as previously Ahmad Riaz Sheikh, another convicted FIA officer, was not only promoted but also made additional DG FIA (economic crime wing), only to be reversed through the court’s in-tervention.

Sajjad’s case is as scandalous as that of Ahmad Riaz Sheikh. Sajjad was dismissed in October 2001 by the then Secretary Interior Tas-neem Noorani, only to be reinstated in July 2008 with retrospec-tive effect (October 3, 2001). The then interior secretary, who was running on extension at the time, reinstated Sajjad beyond his au-thority in violation of rules. Any person in Grade-17 or above dis-missed by a federal secretary cannot be restored by a person less than the prime minister who is the appellant authority in such cases, say the Esta Code rules.

The then secretary couldn’t be reached despite repeated calls and messages. The ministry was told by the FIA that Sajjad was also facing internal inquiries before he had fled the country. He was also charge-sheeted for conveying wrong orders of an FIA’s inquiry officer posted in Faisalabad for registering a case against some persons, who had a dispute with the relative of an influential figure in the government in a property dispute. As a result, the enquiry was converted into a FIR No16/96 which was later closed as false.

Other charges included his going abroad without permission by the competent authority, and also for conducting a raid in Lahore on the illegal verbal order of the influential figure. As he did not face the inquiries, Sajjad was dismissed on October 3, 2001 and never went into appeal until July 2008. As his appeal was considered for reinstatement after the PPP came into power, the FIA strongly opposed his case, saying Sajjad’s appeal was time-barred and that “no action is required on part of the FIA and the Ministry of Interior”.

The ministry not only turned down the FIA’s opinion but also had him restored. As he was reinstated in 2008, he received promotion from February 2002, drew salaries from that date and other benefits, reveals the copy of the notification no. 3/2/90-FIA-Establishment, issued on July 18, 2008. As far his seven-year ab-sence is concerned, the notification said: “The period of absence of the reinstated officer from the 3rd October, 2001 to date shall be decided separately.”