HYDERABAD: Three senior most Sindh police officers are reported to have sent a report to the Supreme Court urging it to restrain Inspector-General Ghulam Haider Jamali from influencing the inquiries, including the one regarding alleged illegal appointments in the Sindh Reserve Police (SRP), Hyderabad.

The apex court had tasked the officers with five different inquiries in police. They had earlier sent a copy of their report to the establishment division indicating that the provincial police hierarchy was on a collision course with them.

According to sources in the home department Additional IGs A.D. Khawaja and Dr Sanaullah Abbasi believe that the IG is not the competent authority to undertake a scrutiny of their service record or take any other action against them and that he has raised the issue of allocation of their service group without having any locus standi and competence.

The argument followed the IG’s Jan 29 letter seeking repatriation of A.D. Khawaja and Sanaullah Abbasi who are looking into alleged illegal appointments in the SRP and other units of the Sindh police, questionable disbursement of cost of investigation by the IG among SSPs, patchy record of police officers up to the rank of DIG, automation project, etc. The IG in his Jan 29 letter to the additional chief secretary (home) recommended that the two officers be repatriated to their “initial occupation group as they got induction/absorption through change of cadre or change of occupational service group”.

In their report sent to the SC and the establishment division, the AIGs stated that IG Jamali had asked them to share with him the findings of the inquiry to be submitted in the apex court but his request was politely declined.

They noted that the SC had provided protection to officers so that they were not transferred from Sindh till the finalisation of inquiries. They urged the apex court to restrain the IG from pressuring them and witnesses, submitting that the post of IGP had prima facie been lying vacant since the framing of contempt charges against the provincial police chief by the Sindh High Court.

They contended that when the IG was not in custody of the service record, how he came to know about the factual position of allocation of their service group. “It is not IGP’s domain and record is lying with the establishment division.” They referred to an inquiry being conducted against DIG (driving licence) Aftab Pathan – who had testified before the SC in one such related matter regarding illegal appointments in the Sukkur SRP – by Additional IG Khadim Bhatti under IG’s order for revenue generation through issuance of licences. DIG Pathan, in his capacity as the SRP DIG had written letters about the questionable appointments.

The IG has also recommended transfer of DIG Sultan Khawaja, who is one of the committee members looking into disbursement of cost of investigation. The services, general administration and coordination (SGA&C) secretary is reported to have ignored the recommendation. The inquiry report regarding questionable disbursement of cost of investigation has already been submitted in the SC while findings of the probe into illegal appointments in SRP indicate that due procedure was not followed.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2016