LAHORE, July 22: DIG Maj Mubasharullah (retired) has been working as consultant to the Inspector General of Punjab Police for the last two months and using the office of the Police Training College, Chuhng, Lahore commandant without any official notification, Dawn has learnt.

He has been conducting inquiries involving police cases without any job description and departmental requirements.

Mr Mubashar, who reached the age of superannuation on May 12, has not yet left his previous office after he was ‘orally’ conveyed by the provincial chief executive to discharge his duties as inquiry officer without any ‘pay package’.

Sources told Dawn that no official order was issued by the provincial government or circulated in any police office about the working of Mr Mubashar as consultant.

They said a summary sent by the IGP to the provincial government in April this year was turned down on technical grounds and the terms and conditions were not fulfilled.

They said the ex-police officer was enjoying the room, staff of 10 people, two vehicles and related office privileges.

Sources said Commandant Muhammad Faisal Rana was currently sitting in the office of the deputy commandant who has no room.

Interestingly, the official correspondences from the office of the Chief Minister’s Secretariat as well the Central Police Office regarding appointment of Mr Mubashar as inquiry officer carry his name and place as “Maj (R) Mubasharullah Police College Chuhng Lahore”.

Sources said Mr Mubashar had been given the office of the commandant without any justification as in case of his contractual job he should have been given some office either at CM Secretariat or in the CPO.

They said the legal weight of the retired DIG as inquiry officer could be well judged from the fact that a couple of petitions were also filed by citizens in the Lahore High Court against the ‘appointment’ of Mr Mubashar as inquiry officer without any notification and legal status.

IGP Muhammad Habibur Rehman, when contacted, said Mr Mubashar’s notification for his appointment as consultant had been sent to the chief minister for approval. He admitted that no task could be given to any officer without any notification.

Mr Mubashar said he had been continuing work on the instructions of the IGP. He said the notification of his assignment was expected in a week or so.

When asked if his summary earlier sent to the government was not entertained for procedural problems, he replied in affirmative.

He said after his retirement he had nothing to do with the administrative matters of the CPTC commandant but he was using the college facilities ‘temporarily’ as directed by the IGP.

He confirmed that he had been initiating inquiries while sitting in the office of the PTC Chuhng and some people filed writs in courts against his status as inquiry officer.He claimed that the provincial chief executive could even appoint a private person for any inquiry.—MUHAMMAD FAISAL ALI

Opinion

Editorial

Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...
By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...