May 7, 2006	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 8, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, May 6: Officers and other cadres of the ministry of finance have threatened to stay way from the budget making process, if no action was taken against Parliamentary Secretary Khwaja Sheraz Mehmood who allegedly beat up and injured Joint Secretary Malik Iftikhar Hussain last Thursday.

Sources in the ministry told Dawn on Saturday that there was enormous resentment in the ministry over the incident. Secretary Finance Naveed Ahsan is expected to formally take up the issue with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz very soon.

“We in the ministry of finance are very annoyed and want action against MNA Sheraz Mehmood,” said the source, adding the veiled warning that the ongoing budget making process could face serious problems if the incident went unnoticed by the higher authorities.

He said Malik Iftikhar was widely recognised as “a thorough gentleman and a hard working senior officer”. Mr Iftikhar, who is JS external (budget) in the ministry, was said to have been thrashed by the MNA and his friends for arriving late by 10 minutes for a briefing.

“The MNA asked Mr Iftikhar to get lost and when reminded that this was not the way to talk to senior officers, he was horribly beaten by the MNA and his friends. This is a very serious matter which needs immediate attention of the president and the prime minister,” the source said. The incident occurred on the third floor of Block-Q of the ministry of finance and caused great resentment and unrest in the ministries and divisions.