Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday defended the transfer of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Jan Mohammad, claiming that multiple complaints had been lodged against his performance and non-cooperative attitude prior to his transfer.

Chaudhry, while speaking to the media in Islamabad, said that he could not comment on the veracity of reports that minister Azam Swati had influenced the IGP's transfer.

Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi had earlier written to Prime Minister Imran Khan that the IGP had failed to take action against the widespread use of drugs in the capital's schools. He also told the premier that bribery was widespread in Islamabad's police stations and check points.

Afridi had complained that IGP Mohammad did not take his calls and was not cooperating, Chaudhry told the media.

"[IGs] are answerable to the prime minister and chief minister who are answerable to the public through assemblies," Chaudhry said in his press talk.

"A narrative is being pushed that if [officers] do not receive phone calls, they will become heroes. This will lead to chaos and anarchy in the country," he said.

He regretted that the government policies were not being followed in "some matters".

The information minister questioned the point of electing a prime minister if he couldn't even remove an officer over "legitimate complaints".

"The prime minister is the chief executive of the country and the chief minister is the chief executive of the province. They have executive powers and they will exercise them."

He clarified that the government will present its arguments in the Supreme Court and will follow the latter's verdict.

Last week, IGP Mohammad was posted out from the force and his services were surrendered to the establishment division.

The officer, who is in Malaysia on ex-Pakistan leave to attend a course, will return on November 5 and hand over the charge to his successor if the government appointed any officer in his place by then.

Local media reported that Mohammad was removed from his post because he did not receive Minister Swati's phone calls. The news was rubbished by the government's Fake News Buster Twitter account but caught the chief justice's attention, who suspended the IGP's transfer orders.

Nothing irregular about Bani Gala

The information minister also rubbished claims that Prime Minister Khan's residence in Islamabad's Bani Gala area was irregular, as it was built with the permission of the area's union council Mora Noor.

"Now if 30 years later, CDA (Capital Development Authority) has decided to include the area in its jurisdiction, that does not make the houses, that were built according to an older law, illegal," he said and added that the prime minister will pay the regularisation fee.