ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has accorded approval to a request by Interior Secretary retired Major Azam Suleman Khan for premature retirement. An official notification to this effect has been issued by the Establishment Division.

Azam Suleman, a grade-22 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service, was due to retire in February next year, but sought premature retirement, which will be in effect from June 30.

Premature retirement is rare in Civil Service and bureaucrats usually seek it when they develop irreconcilable differences with their bosses.

Informed sources, however, said this was not the case this time. They said that months before his retirement, the interior secretary had taken the decision to seize an opportunity.

According to an official source, Azam Suleman is set to be appointed as the eighth Ombudsman of Punjab in the first week of July for a four-year term. The position fell vacant after Punjab Ombudsman Najam Saeed died of heart attack last week.

Mr Suleman had been promoted to the post of federal secretary in February 2017.

He has served as administrative boss in two important provinces — Punjab and Sindh.

Former caretaker prime minister retired Justice Nasirul Mulk had appointed Mr Suleman as chief secretary of Sindh in June 2018 — a position he held till September 2018. He also served as Punjab chief secretary from November 2019 to April 2020.

He served as interior secretary before his appointment as Punjab chief secretary. He is said to have been removed as chief secretary at the request of Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar. Till his sudden ouster, Mr Suleman was considered to be the powerful chief secretary who was running the affairs of the province with a team of handpicked officers in close coordination with senior police officials. Now he is set to assume a new position in the same province.

The Punjab Ombudsman has the mandate to protect the rights of people, ensuring adherence to the rule of law, diagnosing, redressing and rectifying any injustice done to a person through maladministration and suppressing corrupt practices.

The Ombudsman has the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the code of civil procedure for summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person, compelling the production of documents, receiving evidence on affidavits and issuing commission for examination of witnesses. The Ombudsman is vested with the powers to enter and search any premises and inspect any article, books of account and other documents and impound and seal such articles. The Ombudsman has the same powers, mutatis mutandis, as the high court has to punish any person for its contempt.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2020