ISLAMABAD Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) management has reportedly decided to make dubious appointments on two key posts in the legal wing, setting aside rules and regulations of the company. OGDCL management is allegedly making these appointments at a time when National Assemblys Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources is already investigating into the irregular appointments and has sought detailed report in this regard. During the meeting held in July in the OGDCL House, NA body expressed its shock over the fact that many officials whose appointments were found illegal and even orders were given by the OGDCL Board for their termination, still continued working. According to well-informed reliable sources, the Human Resource Committee (HRC) of OGDCL board had approved appointments of Ahmad Hyat Lak as General Manager (GM) Legal and Mehrunisa as Manager Legal Corporate. These two candidates allegedly do not meet the set criteria of the company regarding their appointments. Mehrunisa is an ex-employee of the company run by an LPG business tycoon who has also faced a case in National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The sources further informed that Member HRC Additional Secretary Ijaz Chaudhry is yet to sign the appointment letters of these two candidates and Mr Lak is currently working in Presidency. He has worked for seven years in NAB and one year in Attock Refinery Limited (ARL). The sources were of the opinion that the candidate for the post of GM required to have 24-year experience in relevant field and HRC had not taken into account the experience while approving appointment of Mr Lak. Mehrunsa is currently working on contract at the post of deputy chief in OGDCL and she has a law degree. It is noticeable here that in an advertisement issued on July 1, 2010, OGDCL had said that foreign qualified candidate would be preferred. The company has not mentioned the working experience in order to accommodate these blue-eyed persons. Raja Mubeen is currently working as deputy chief in OGDCL. He has studied in United States (US) and was the potential candidate to be GM as well as Manager Legal. But HRC ignored him for these two posts, sources added. It is a shocking situation that HRC has short-listed Mehrunisa for the post of GM Legal who was not even fit to be Manager, sources said. However, it is relevant to point out that the appointments of these officials are going to block appointments of many eligible candidates. The OGDLC has reportedly become hostage by officials appointed either on deputation or contract and this practice has blocked the internal promotions of a large number of the company employees. It is a generalized rule that OGDCL has to hire the employees on deputation or contract if it lacks proper manpower, sources said adding that political appointments were being made either by deputation or contract depriving company employees of promotions. Sources said that OGDCL Board of Directors (BoD) in its meeting last month expressed serious concerns over deputation of some officials on key posts with hefty packages who failed to meet criteria of 15 years of service. Furthermore, it is important to mention here that Joint Secretary Arif Abrahim has recently been deputed to the post of Executive Director (ED) Human Resource (HR) denying many company officials from promotion. Sources said that Abrahim had been deputed in the company despite the fact that OGDCL management had withdrawn his requisition. This scribe repeatedly tried to contact the OGDC officials to learn their point of view over the alleged favouritism in the company, but they did not respond to the calls.