ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) has summoned Auditor General of Pakistan Mohammad Akhtar Buland Rana on Nov 27 to face a reference seeking his removal from office.

Under Article 168(2) of the Constitution, the AGP, who is administered oath by the Chief Justice of Pakistan as it is a constitutional office, can only be removed by invoking the SJC under Article 209 of the Constitution.

On Sept 26, the SJC issued a show cause notice to Mr Rana asking him to reply within a fortnight to the allegations levelled in the reference against him.

A source privy to the development said the AGP had already furnished his reply and it was examined by the SJC at its meeting on Monday. The meeting, presided over by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk, decided to summon him on Nov 27.

The auditor general has already submitted his reply

Mr Rana was sworn in as the 17th AGP on Aug 27, 2011, by then chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, although the latter had sought a clarification from the presidency over the last PPP government’s choice.

The then opposition PML-N had also opposed the appointment of Mr Rana, accusing him of being a dual national and having faced allegations of sexual harassment. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had quit the office of the chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) over the issue.

The reference was sent to the Supreme Court by the National Assembly secretariat on Aug 15 after endorsing the recommendations of the PAC and charging Mr Rana with ‘misconduct’ for pocketing around Rs4.7 million as excess salary and privileges.

It was sent to the SJC with recommendation to remove Mr Rana from the post.

The reference was submitted after he was provided an opportunity to appear before the PAC and clarify his position, but he never turned up.

Mr Rana again came into the limelight when he questioned the retiring, without pre-audit, of Rs480 billion circular debt in the energy sector by the PML-N government soon after coming to power last year.

The last time the SJC met was on Oct 3, 2009, when it sent to then president Asif Ali Zardari its findings, suggesting removal of a judge of the Sindh High Court, Justice Mohammad Afzal Soomro, for misconduct.

The former president had also forwarded to the SJC references against six other judges of the Lahore, Peshawar and Sindh high courts who had taken oath under the Provisional Constitution Order, defying a restraining order of Nov 3, 2007.

The references were against Justices Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi, Hamid Ali Shah, Hasnaat Ahmed Khan and Syed Sajjad Hussain Shah of the LHC, Justice Yasmin Abbasey of the SHC and Justice Jehanzeb Rahim of the PHC.

The most prominent reference ever referred to the SJC was against former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry by then military ruler Pervez Musharraf on March 9, 2007, on charges of misconduct and abuse of official authority.

However, proceedings could not be completed as Justice Chaudhry filed in the Supreme Court a petition challenging his removal and the SJC proceedings.

A 13-judge SC bench later accepted the petition and reinstated Justice Chaudhry on July 20, 2007.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2014