ISLAMABAD, July 15: Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry raised doubts on Friday about the veracity of the summary relating to suspension of FIA’s Additional Director General Zafar Qureshi and said it appeared to have been moved without lawful authority.

And the doubts were reinforced when Establishment Secretary Sohail Ahmed informed a three-judge bench that the summary seeking prime minister’s approval for suspending the officer had been moved by the interior secretary, and not by the establishment division as usually done under the Government Servants (Efficiency and Discipline) Rules, 1973.

The bench which includes Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Amir Hani Muslim is hearing the politically explosive multi-billion-rupee financial corruption in the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) which also involves Moonis Elahi, son of former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.

The establishment secretary provided the information when the chief justice specifically asked whether Zafar Qureshi had been suspended by the establishment division or by the interior secretary.

The action was taken by FIA Director General Tahseen Anwar Shah on July 4 for a television interview by Mr Qureshi.

The court retained the original record presented to it by Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq about the suspension of Mr Qureshi and transfer of four members of his team investigating the NICL scam. The notifications about the transfer of the four officers to other stations were rescinded by the government when the apex court took notice of the matter.

The chief justice suggested to the establishment secretary to read Article 4 of the Constitution every before leaving for his office and said: “We also want to do many things, but this article holds us back from doing anything wrong.”

The article requires that every citizen should be dealt with in accordance with the law.

When going through the documents the chief justice asked about the summary under which Mr Qureshi had been suspended, the establishment secretary said the handwritten paragraphs in black ink by the interior secretary was the summary.

The chief justice said it appeared that the summary had been moved without lawful authority and ordered submission of the documents to the Supreme Court registrar. “See yourself, Mr AG, where the matter is heading,” the CJ said before adjourning the proceedings till Monday.

The attorney general said he had conveyed the court’s concern about a perception created by newspaper reports that political interference was a factor behind Mr Qureshi’s suspension. But, he said, the interior ministry had come up neither with any explanation nor a response to his office.

The apparent foot dragging by the government and the non-committal stance taken by the AG during hearings so far showed that the authorities were in no mood to withdraw the order of suspension of Mr Qureshi, observed a senior advocate watching the proceedings in the NICL scam case.

The chief justice said the court wanted the government to reinstate Mr Qureshi, although it had the authority to do so on its own.

Referring to the transfer orders of four FIA officers rescinded by Acting Director General Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed on Thursday, the AG said one of the officers had already taken the charge and the others were being informed about the cancellation of notifications about their transfer.

About complaints of harassment made by Mr Qureshi, the CJ said the court was deliberately treading very carefully and showing utmost restraint.

The chief justice said it would be appropriate that the matter of political intervention leading to Mr Qureshi’s suspension be handed over to the Lahore High Court chief justice to conduct a thorough probe and settle the issue once for all.

He said that not only the ill-gotten money had to be retrieved but the people involved in the scam had to be brought back to the country.

Referring to an anti-judiciary campaign in the electronic media perceived to have been sponsored by a ruling coalition partner, the attorney general said the information secretary was exploring which television channels had aired the advertisements and trying to find out who were real sponsors.

Justice Khilji said that non-compliance of court orders would always lead to anarchy in the country and referred to the situation in Karachi to prove his point.