PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government-owned Economic Zones Development and Management Company (EZDMC) on Monday sacked two of its officials, including a senior executive, amid reports of their differences with the top management.

They included acting head of the EZDMC human resources department Attique Sultan Raja and estate manager Islam Gul.

The termination letters issued to both officers available with Dawn show that the company has invoked Clause 5.1 of their employment contract, which allows the sacking of employees with a month prior notice or payment of one month salary.

“The company reserves the right to end the employment at any time with one month notice or gross salary in lieu therefore,” Clause 5.1 reads.

Mr Raja had taken over as the acting head of the human resources department in August last year when the then administration had sacked his boss and chief human resources officer Jawad Amin and chief financial officer Shaukat Iqbal Khattak.

Company chief claims move kind of rationalisation

Later, an internal review undertaken by the company’s HR committee had declared that the firing of both officials ‘is not transparent and does not stand the eye of law’.

The matter is currently pending with the Peshawar High Court for decision.

Mr Raja told Dawn that his report regarding the appointment of the company’s incumbent chief executive officer had declared the CEO guilty of violating his employment contract by not severing his links with his former employer and concealing facts soured his relations with his boss.

He said he later appeared before the National Accountability Bureau when it took up the CEO appointment issue.

Mr Raja said the last thing that led to his ouster was the illegal hiring of the manager (legal).

“A panel consisting of internal and external members had recommended the hiring of Usman Ghazi but the CEO circumvented the procedure and appointed a NAB lawyer on high salary by starting another dubious and manipulated process,” he said.

The sacked employee said a secretary of the industry department, who happened to be the head of the company’s board, had also asked the CEO to explain position on the alleged illegalities in the hiring of the manager (legal).

He said as he was named on the application submitted to the Supreme Court against the CEO, he couldn’t be terminated under the Whistleblower Act.

As for Mr Gul, he along with another company employee had declared an open war against CEO Saeed Ahmad Khan a couple of days ago.

Mr Gul and his fellow had approached the human rights cell of the Supreme Court pleading to take a suo moto notice of what they called the illegal appointment of Mr Saeed. They had also written to the company’s board of directors on Nov 19 accusing the CEO of abusive, racist and discriminatory behaviour in his dealing with his subordinates.

Sources told Dawn that the company’s board member in an informal sitting took up the contents of the letter on Nov 22 but there came nothing out of it.

Earlier in Oct this year, a member of the company board and head of its HR committee Sahibzada Saeed Ahmad had also resigned from his position stating that board’s large size was acting company performance and its decision making process.

Mr. Saeed in his resignation said that company’s board strength which presently stood at 21 persons termed as “excessive number by any account,” and proposed to bring this number down to five to 10 members.

When approached, EZDMC CEO Saeed Ahmad Khan said the two officials had been terminated under the terms of their employment contract, which authorised the act.

He said the move was a kind of the company’s rationalisation.

Mr Saeed said Islam Gul’s termination had nothing to do with his letter; rather, he was absent for past three months from the company.

He said the company’s head to run the company and would not allow the entity to be affected from leg-pulling and office politics.

The CEO wondered if the company was damaged in the process, what the rationale was for him being at the helm of affairs.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2018