Prime Minister continues shuffling top bureaucrats. (The News)

[mujipak]

SLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday ordered another top-level reshuffle in bureaucracy but blocked the reappointment of senior police officer Zafar Qureshi in the FIA, despite clear directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
On Wednesday last, the Supreme Court gave a two-day deadline to reappoint Zafar Qureshi as additional DG FIA to ensure fair investigations into the NICL and Haj corruption cases but despite the summary seeking the appointment pending with the Prime Minister’s office for over two weeks, Prime Minister Gilani has not yet approved it.
On Friday, the prime minister changed three federal secretaries including Secretary Water and Power Javed Iqbal, Secretary Railways Shahid Hussain and Secretary Privatization Imtiaz Hussain Qazi.
On Wednesday, senior advocate Makhdoom Ali Khan, who was representing DG FIA Malik Iqbal, sought from the Supreme Court some time for the transfer of Zafar Qureshi claiming that the DG FIA was trying to contact the prime minister, who was busy in security-related matters.
The premier though got time for Friday’s notifications for the transfer order of three federal secretaries yet conveniently ignored Zafar Qureshi’s reappointment in the FIA to probe the cases that involve the high and the mighty in the government.
The Prime Minister’s Secretariat sources confirmed that the Establishment Division had moved the summary for the prime minister’s approval for the appointment of Qureshi as ADG FIA some two weeks back when it was desired by the apex court.
Since the government was adamantly ignoring the Supreme Court’s direction, the apex court was compelled on Wednesday to give two days to DG FIA Malik Muhammad Iqbal to repost Additional DG FIA Zafar Qureshi. The said direction was passed by a three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising Justice Muhammad Sair Ali and Justice Ghulam Rabbani, during the hearing of the NICL suo motu case.
According to sources, the government is deliberately spoiling some mega corruption cases, including the Pakistan Steel Mills case, NICL scandal and Haj scam for the precise reason that these scandals involve top leaders in the government. In the NICL case, Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Faheem and Moonis Elahi have already been accused of minting millions. The Haj scam not only involved Gilani’s former minister and close associate from Multan Syed Hamid Saeed Kazmi but also reflects the alleged involvement of Gilani’s son, Abdul Qadir Gilani.
It is feared by the government that the reappointment of Qureshi, who had probed these cases, would mean not only fixing a powerful person connected with the rulers but also destabilising the government that recently got the PML-Q’s support with the alleged understanding that the FIA’s friendly investigation and prosecution would help Moonis Elahi get off the hook.
As was expected miracles have already started happening for Moonis Elahi as only a few days back, eight prosecution witnesses retracted from their statements given under oath on stamp papers to the FIA when Qureshi was heading the NICL investigation.
For similar reasons and to protect the NRO beneficiaries, including President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is also avoiding the appointment of chairman and prosecutor general NAB despite the Supreme Court’s clear order to make these appointments at the earliest. In March this year, the Supreme Court had passed the order but despite the lapse of several weeks, Gilani did not make these key appointments in the NAB. The SC had directed that the new chairman NAB should be appointed through consultations among the prime minister, leader of the opposition and Chief Justice of Pakistan.