Interior Ministry out to save Malik's skin?

ISLAMABAD The Interior Ministrys bizarre move of writing to its attached departments for identification and dismissal of those who benefited from infamous NRO appeared at a time when Interior Minister Rehman Malik's own eligibility as Senator is also in question for being a prime beneficiary of the same. Federal Interior Secretary, Qamar Zaman has dispatched a letter marked as 'Most Immediate, to all the attached and concerned departments working directly or indirectly under the Ministry. The Secretary, in the letter, instructed immediate removal of all the Government officials who were beneficiaries of the NRO and were ever convicted by any court of law before the promulgation of Ordinance. The sources in the Ministry disclosed that the Ministry such move was only a bid to release the pressure form Rehman Malik who was one of top beneficiaries of the NRO that apex court had already declared null and void. According to on the record retrospective details, Rehman Malik was dismissed from service in absentia as additional director general ADG Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). As per the law, any person dismissed from the Government service on grounds of moral conduct disqualifies as member of the Parliament. The Ministry through the letter written to its almost 18 attached departments has sought the information from these about the NRO beneficiaries directing the concerned heads of departments to take immediate action against those officials up to their removal, as the SC had declared the law void abanitio. In the letter, the Ministry has also warned the concerned heads of departments of strict disciplinary action against them, if they failed to pinpoint the NRO beneficiaries from their respective departments along with their dismissal. The sources in the Ministry took it amazing saying that the Ministry had written a same letter to its attached department on 20th of March but it failed to identify the NRO beneficiary working under the nose of Rehman Malik as his Staff Officer. It is pertinent to mention here that Sajjad Haider, Deputy Director (DD) FIA and the Staff Officer of Federal Interior Minister, was dismissed from service by the Federal Interior Secretary three days before only at a time when media reported that he was the NRO beneficiary as well as his reinstatement in service had not been done according to the rules. The sources in the Ministry said that after the SCs move to send ADG, FIA Ahmed Riaz Sheikh behind the bars, it was possible that Rehman Malik would be the next person who would invite the wrath of SC and the Ministry was busy in dispatching such type of letters to its concerned departments only to save its ministers skin.

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