PARC too slow to implement Court Judgment

Aftab Ahmed

The management of the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (Parc) which is reluctant to terminate 269 illegal employees in light of the court decision, stepped in sending notices to officials having dual nationality and permanent residence permits in a bid to penalize a senior scientist.

The bid especially aims at targeting Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali is Chief Scientist-II in grade 21 and senior-most scientist in the council who established state of art biotechnology institute (NIGAB). He had also unearthed a scam of Rs 150 million in the PSDP-funded olive project.

Sources told that PARC management is trying to victimize Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali, Chief Scientist-II/Member In-charge (Coordination & Monitoring) who was transferred first from DG NARC position, and then his permanent residence permit for Canada issue is taken up, due to the reason that he has raised voice at all levels against corruption and corrupt elements in PARC especially who involved in financial fraud in the PSDP funded olive project.

Dr. Ali also took a stand for the scientific community of the Council when a non-scientist/Additional Secretary of National Food Security & Research with Master in International Relations (Muhammad Ayub Chaudhry) was appointed as Chairman PARC in May 2019 in violation of Section 9 of PARC Ordinance 1981.

Dr. Ali took him to the Islamabad High Court, Islamabad and on the directions of Honourable High Court, the appointment of regular Chairman PARC could be matured by the bureaucracy of the Establishment Division in September 2019.

Dr. Nasir Mehmood Cheema and Sakit Saleem Mirza were compulsorily retired in July 2017 from PARC service after the due process as a consequence of disciplinary proceedings and high-level inquiry conducted on the charges of corruption, forgery of documents, and financial fraudulent payments out of Olive Project.

It is further informed that current Chairman PARC (Dr. Muhammad Azeem Khan) has allegedly defended officials involved in the Olive project scam and reinstated two officers Dr. Nasir Cheema and Sakit Saleem in January 2020 after becoming chairman who was allegedly involved in financial embezzlement in Olive Project.

Prior to that Dr. Nasir Cheema filed a petition in Islamabad High Court, Islamabad for his reinstatement. Islamabad High Court Islamabad directed to place the reinstatement case of Dr. Nasir Cheema before the PARC Board of Governors for the decision, but the present Chairman PARC by setting aside the judgment of the High Court managed to reinstate them without taking the matter into Board of Governors.

According to available record, there are 09 employees who possess dual nationality/Permanent Residence Permit, but notices have been served upon only 06 employees due to the reason that 02 of them already retired from service and 01 employee (Dr. Khalid Mehmood who is on deputation in BISP) belongs to 269 group of illegally appointed/reinstated employee whose fate is yet to be decided since last one year in the light of judgment delivered by the Division Bench of Islamabad High Court, Islamabad in ICA-294/2018, wherein the reinstatement of such employees during 2012 by the Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani on the recommendations of Khurshid Shah Cabinet Sub Committee had specifically been declared illegal.

PARC issued notices to six employees. It seems that PARC is in hurry to make a decision about dual nationals in the light of Apex Court judgment, whereas the specific judgment against 269 could not be implemented by the present management of PARC for the last one years, despite the fact they had been declared illegal by the Division Bench of Islamabad High Court, Islamabad but millions of rupees are being squandered on such illegal appointees by the present regime.

The Executive Committee in its meeting held on 16-01-2020 of PARC has also stressed upon for implementation of judgment against 269 employees, thereafter the Chairman PARC theough letter dated 28-01-2020 to Secretary National Food Security and Research Dr. Muhammad Hashim Popazai, also admitted that further retention of 269 patent illegally reinstated employees would be fatal for the organization survival, but the judgment of High Court is still un-implemented as these employees are politically well connected and few elements in the bureaucracy and PARC are supporting them.