ISLAMABAD, Aug 10: The widow of a career diplomat, who was punished for pointing out irregularities in the sale of buildings of Pakistan embassy in Jakarta in 2001, is still waiting for justice.

Mr S.M.H. Razvi, who was the head of chancery at the embassy, was sent back to Pakistan and made an OSD in 2002 for allegedly taking the matter to the press. He died in April last year after retiring from service in 2008.

A special committee of the Public Accounts Committee headed by Yasmin Rehman of the PPP raised the issue at a meeting held at the parliament house on Wednesday. Ayaz Sadiq of PML-N, Noor Alam of PPP and Hamid Yar Hiraj also attended the meeting.

Major General (retd) Syed Mustafa Anwar Hussain, then ambassador of Pakistan to Indonesia, allegedly sold the residence and chancery buildings of the embassy for $3.19 million without following rules and regulations.

The Foreign Office and Mr Razvi raised objections to the sale of the property without prior permission from the ministry of foreign affairs. But the ambassador decided on his own to dispose of the property.

In 2002, when the matter was reported in the press, then chief executive General Pervez Musharraf constituted an inquiry committee under the cabinet secretary.

The committee confirmed irregularities in the sale because the deal had been finalised without giving an advertisement in local press, but it didn’t recommend any action against the ambassador who had been appointed by General Musharraf.

Instead, the committee recommended that Mr Razvi should be made an OSD for raising the issue in the media and not within the ministry of foreign affairs, a charge denied by the diplomat.

Mr Razvi ran from pillar to post to get himself exonerated, but to little avail.

On July 1, 2011, the special committee of the PAC ordered the setting up of another inquiry committee to examine all files and documents, including report of the first inquiry committee.

The new committee, headed by Director General Ayaz Hussain of the foreign ministry, confirmed procedural irregularities in signing the binding sale agreement.

The committee said in its report that besides going ahead with the deal without seeking prior approval from the foreign ministry, the former ambassador had entered into an agreement with M/s Palma Citra Perami on July 2, 2001, for the sale of government property at the rate of $800 per sq metre. The property was eventually sold through the same company, but at a lower price.

The committee was of the opinion that Mr Razvi had fallen victim to the efforts made to get the name of the ambassador cleared. “His innocence would have been vindicated if the ministry of foreign affairs was allowed to undertake inquiry as per the normal rules and procedures,” the report said.The widow of Mr Razvi, who appeared before the PAC committee on Wednesday, said her family had undergone immense sufferings as a result of the highly biased inquiry conducted at the behest of General Musharraf to protect a military general.

“My husband died after undergoing years of torture and mental agony just for speaking out the truth, my son has left the country for good because of the injustice done to my family, and I am left with nothing. Can anyone pay my family back all these years, which otherwise would have been ideal, because my husband was on the verge of getting some ambassadorial assignment had he not been unfairly penalised,” she said in a choked voice.

In its recommendation, the PAC committee directed the foreign ministry to fix responsibility within six weeks, first find out what led to the faulty inquiry report and also the financial loss which the national exchequer suffered because of the questionable deal.

The committee also observed that the Foreign Office should undertake a special exercise to determine how the loss of Mr Razvi’s career could be compensated.

Former ambassador Major General (retd) Mustafa Hussain, who also attended the meeting, was told by the PAC committee to submit his response to the foreign ministry.