LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to ‘clip the wings’ of director-general Anti-Corruption Establishment allegedly for his ‘audacity’ to lodge FIRs against Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) officers.

Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Ahmad Raza Sarwar has initiated a summary to amend The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, to curtail DG Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) powers and bind him to send a reference to the chief secretary and seek approval before lodging an FIR against the senior officers.

The proposed amendments include investigation by a three-member committee before lodging an FIR, identification of decision-making authority for lodging a case on the charges of corruption and misuse of powers; as well as authorised officers with regard to the officers of BS-20 and above; BS-18 and BS-19; BS-17; and BS-1 to BS-16.

Sources in the ACS office confided to Dawn that the matter to amend the law and curtail DG ACE powers sprang up in the corridors of power after the director-general had lodged two separate FIRs against three PAS officers – former secretary services Masood Mukhtar, former secretary coordination to chief minister Dr Asif Tufail in a case of posting Muhammad Khan Bhatti on deputation as principal secretary to chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi; and FIR against former special secretary to chief minister Dr Khurram Shahzad, among others, in a case of “illegally” allowing a sugar mill to enhance its sanctioned crushing capacity.

Anti-corruption DG’s ‘audacity’ to book PAS officials main reason behind the move

Later, additional DG ACE Waqas Hassan was made a scapegoat and transferred. However, the DG ACE Suhail Zafar Chatha did not wish to surrender the additional DG and held him in the ACE despite the fact that his (Waqas Hassan) transfer orders were issued some three weeks ago.

Sources say the summary will be requiring a nod of the caretaker Punjab cabinet led by chief minister before promulgation of Ordinance to amend the Act by the Punjab governor.

It may be mentioned that the DG’s curtailed powers of getting prior permission before lodging an FIR and arrest the civil officers were provided in the rules of the business of The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. However, those rules were suspended by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2018 and allowed DG ACE to lodge an FIR and arrest civil servants.

“Since these powers of lodging an FIR against civil servants was with the DG ACE for the past five years, the bureaucracy’s outburst to amend the law and curtail DG’s powers is nothing but to express their displeasure over nomination of PAS officers in FIRs and arrest of Dr Khurran Shahzad,” a source in the ACS office told Dawn.

In the sugar mills case, it may be mentioned, PMS officer former DG Industries, Punjab, Rao Parvaiz Akhtar was also nominated and arrested.

The proposed amendments being put up in the summary require that the ACE DG would send a reference to the chief secretary before lodging an FIR. The chief secretary will constitute a three-member committee to investigate and give recommendations to the CS within 15 days to empower him to make a decision.

In case of corruption and misuse of powers by a civil servant, a deputy director of ACE will hold an inquiry and decide to register a case against the civil servant or direct the department concerned for inquiry and action.

The DG will be the focal person to decide for the holding of an inquiry or register a case against an administrative secretary, a commissioner, a deputy commissioner or any autonomous body’s head serving in BS-20 or above.

The ACE will be required to seek permission from the chief secretary to register a case against BS-19 and BS-18 officers in the cases pertaining to corruption and misuse of power.

The ACE will be required to take permission from the administrative secretary concerned before launching a case against a BS-17 officer. Similarly, the ACE will seek permission from the appointing authority concerned before launching a case against a BS-1 to BS-16 officials.

The amendments also require that no officer be arrested before permission by the authority concerned. When contacted, ACS Ahmad Raza Sarwar opted not to reply to a question as to why there was a need to curtail ACE DG’s powers.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2023