ISLAMABAD, October 8: When it comes to the prized postings in foreign missions of the country, efforts are made to bend laid down government rules.

That is what the Cabinet Division says it found the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) doing in filling foreign postings on his own, though, through a hand-picked selection committee.

Officers of the audit and accounts group thus selected were to take up position of director audit and accounts at the Pakistan High Commission in London, the Pakistan Embassy in Washington and the Consul General’s Office in New York.

Incumbent AGP Buland Akhtar Rana, appointed in the office in August 2011 and holding dual nationality of Canada, sanctioned these positions.

Last week, the Cabinet Division wrote an official memorandum informing the AGP that only the prime minister is the competent authority to accord final approval to such foreign postings and seeking a clarification from the AGP of the authority and prerogative of his office in making the final selection.

Official documents available with Dawn show that the AGP constituted a four-member, in-house departmental security committee comprising senior officials to interview prospective candidates for the postings. The committee was asked to nominate a panel of three officers for the AGP to make the final selection.

Malik Akhtar Niazi, official spokesperson for the AGP, would only confirm that the Cabinet Division had made the inquiry.

But, after consulting “concerned quarters”, he asserted that “the AGP had followed laid down procedures which will be duly conveyed to the Cabinet Division.”

In its memorandum challenging the AGP’s right to finalise names for foreign postings, the Cabinet Division referred to a government order that laid down procedures in this regard.

According to order issued in 1981, all cases pertaining to postings of officers in foreign missions, such as commercial secretaries, educational and labour attaches, and information officers should be referred to the Establishment Division for clearance by a special selection board.

The Establishment Division then forwards names to the prime minister’s office for the final selection.

The Cabinet Division’s memorandum impressed that the matter required AGP’s urgent attention.Sources in the AGP office told Dawn that the candidate officers for the postings in London, Washington and New York have been interviewed and the names of the selected ones may be finalised any time soon.

A senior official of the AGP, requesting anonymity, said that in the past departmental nominees had to appear before a special selection board, constituted by the Establishment Division, to provide a fair chance to the finalists.

“It’s quite obvious that the AGP, being the top boss, can influence the in-house committee in the selection process,” he said.

Buland Akhtar Rana’s appointment as AGP in August 2011 was mired in controversy.

A native of Multan, he was appointed by the former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. Then leader of the opposition, and now Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had resigned as chairman Public Accounts Committee in the heat of controversy, charging that Mr Gilani appointed Mr Rana “purely on personal liking”.

The chief justice of Pakistan also had questioned the appointment citing Mr Rana’s dual nationality and allegations of sexual harassment against him.

However, the chief justice administered him the oath of office after the former president Asif Ali Zardari clarified that dual nationality did not bar a person to hold the position of AGP.

In June this year, the Federal Tax Ombudsman had issued AGP Rana summons to face charges of intentionally disrupting and maligning the offices of the Attorney General of Pakistan, the Secretary Law and the Tax Ombudsman.