PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak on Friday sacked the acting managing director (MD) and Executive Director of the Bank of Khyber (BoK) Mir Javed Hashmat on the charges of committing irregularities and misusing authority.

Sources in the Chief Minister office told The News that probe had been ordered in the alleged bungling in the BoK, including recruitment during the caretaker government and appointment of the relatives of the members of the bank’s Board of Directors.

They said the CM formally approved the removal of Javed Hashmat after provincial Senior Minister Sirajul Haq, who also holds the portfolio of Finance, submitted to him the charge-sheet against the acting MD and some high-ranking officials who allegedly played a role to install him as MD on permanent basis for which he was already shortlisted.

According to the details of the short-listed candidates for the MD’s office, Mir Javed Hashmat has done BSc. Engineering and IBA (Finance & Accounting). Sources said he isn’t a commercial banker, but a plan was worked out to pick him up as permanent MD in violation of fundamental criteria of Fit & Proper Test. His experience as executive director was considered and he was granted 13 out of 15 marks. This was termed violation of the law as the BoK Act has no provision for executive director’s position.

The sources said the provincial finance minister on June 20, 2013 took the matter to the chief minister and recommend to him to remove Javed Hashmat so that the new MD could be selected in a transparent manner.

The sources said the chief secretary had opposed sacking of the acting MD. Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan was approached to save the acting MD.

Both Pervez Khattak and Sirajul Haq also rushed to Imran Khan’s Islamabad home a day before his departure to London for medical treatment and briefed him about Mir Javed Hashmat activities and pleaded with him not to back his candidature for the MD’s job.

The sources said Sirajul Haq and Pervez Khattak also informed Imran Khan that 50 officers and other employees were recruited in the bank during the rule of the caretaker regime in violation of merit and against the orders of Election Commission of Pakistan which had banned recruitment.

As regards the issue management trainee officers (MTOs), the sources said the acting MD had reportedly planned to recruit 50 of them under a selection criterion in which 50 percent marks were allocated to NTS Test and 50 percent for interview. Later, he unilaterally increased the number of MTOs to be recruited from 50 to 90. The selection process was also substantially changed as 20 percent marks were allocated to NTS Test and 80 percent to interview. The sources said all formalities in this regard were speedily completed to please people who mattered in the selection of the permanent MD, but due to timely action of the government the plan could not be materialized.

The said after the matter appeared in the media Wednesday, Finance Minister Sirajul Haq called the acting MD to his office on Thursday to give him presentation on BoK’s affairs. Subsequently, he once again took up the matter with the chief minister who on Friday ordered the removal of Javed Hashmat.

In an apparent bid to avoid embarrassment, the acting MD also submitted his resignation to the additional chief secretary finance Sahibzada Saeed.

When contacted, Javed Hashmat said the chief minister was the competent authority to remove him. “He (CM) can do it in his own pleasure, but I have not received any order yet to this effect,” he added. However, Javed Hashmat categorically denied that he had resigned. “Honestly speaking, I am fed up with all this,” he remarked. Asked if he was leaving for the US on August 5 to avoid probe on account of allegations made against him, he said he may leave before Eidul Fitr to meet his children in the US



so now they may cancel the entire process and re advertise,or they may call those candidates to appear for test again who have already appeared and paid for the mto's nts test, or they may rationalise the wieghtage again i.e 50% nts and 50% to the rest and declare the result, or they may set up a cut off nts score according to the reduced number of seats i.e40-50 and again call applicants to appear for G-d and interview. these are few possibilities that i perceive.