Defiant official sent on forced leave

ISLAMABAD: After ‘sorting out’ two top bureaucrats, the government sent Accountant General of Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) Tahir Mahmood on forced leave and replaced him with Ghuzanfar Ali Jilani, a grade-20 officer, on Monday.

A senior official of the finance ministry told Dawn that Mr Mahmood had been sent on forced leave by Commerce Secretary Qasim Niaz, who is heading an inquiry against Mr Mahmood.

Mr Mahmood is to retire from service anyway in March this year on reaching superannuation.

The Controller General of Accounts, Asif Usman, immediately directed Mr Jilani, currently working as chief accounts officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to act as the AGPR.

Mr Usman, Mr Mahmood and the finance ministry’s spokesman could not be contacted for comments despite efforts.

Last month, Mr Mahmood had sent four references to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against different ministries, including those of finance and planning, seeking investigations into allegations of corruption, misappropriation of funds and discrepancies in accounts.

The government believed that Mr Mahmood had bypassed rules and regulations by directly sending references to the NAB, suspended him and ordered a counter inquiry against him.

Mr Mahmood challenged his suspension in the Islamabad High Court, which set aside the suspension order.

He resumed the office of the AGPR, but the two sides failed to reconcile.

The IHC will resume hearing of his petition on Thursday (Jan 16).

The official said that Mr Niaz had exercised his powers under the efficiency and discipline rules to send Mr Mahmood on forced leave to ensure that he did not influence the ongoing inquiry.

In reply to a question, he said the court had stayed Mr Mahmood’s suspension, but had not barred the secretary from sending him on forced leave. It is a separate matter.

Over the past few weeks, the government developed differences with Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Chairman Chaudhry Rashid and National Database and Registration Authority head Tariq Malik. After disputes over their termination and court cases, Mr Rashid has gone on leave and Mr Malik has resigned, although his appointment has been declared legal by the IHC.