KARACHI: Just a day after strong criticism from political opponents over the appointment of an official of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, who happens to be a younger brother of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, as the deputy commissioner of a key Karachi district, the Sindh government of Pakistan Peoples Party on Saturday claimed that it was actually the federal government which had transferred him to Sindh.

The ruling party leaders shared a Jan 22 notification of the establishment division placing the services of Ziaur Rehman, an officer of KP’s Provincial Manag­ement Service in grade-19, at the disposal of the Sindh government “on deputation basis”.

“He was at the Sindh government’s disposal since January and the provincial government appointed him as the DC Central in line with the defined rules,” said a PPP leader citing the federal government’s notification.

The fresh move from the PPP making the establishment division’s notification public suggests that it remained unaffected by the opponents’ criticism.

“It’s purely an administrative decision which has nothing to do with politics,” said the PPP leader. “The government needs to run its affairs through appointments and transfers. The appointment of the DC Central is just another move in the same direction which cannot be reversed on someone’s illogical accusations.”

‘Contempt of SC order’

The opposition Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan wrote a letter to Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah informing him that the appointment of Ziaur Rehman as DC Central on deputation basis was in utter violation of a 2013 Supreme Court order through which it had imposed a ban on deputation.

Senior MQM-P leader and its parliamentary party head in the Sindh Assembly Kanwar Naveed Jameel said in the letter that Mr Rehman was “an alien to the province” and he was posted in a sensitive district with mala fide intentions.

Mr Jameel asked the CM to withdraw not only the notification appointing Mr Rehman as DC Central but also “cancel his deputation ab initio as it is sheer contempt of Supreme Court of Pakistan order”.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2020