LAHORE: The former chief executive officer (CEO) of the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), Shahid Haidar, has accused the inquiry team, the company’s board of directors (BoD) and a group of officers for being biased to just remove him from service at any cost.

He criticised the sitting Lesco management for depriving him of the right to access record to reply to the show-cause notice on various allegations levelled against him, saying that an ex-parte decision of ‘removal from service’ was announced after three months of his retirement.

“I appeared before the inquiry committee in February where one of the members raised some questions. On the issue of delay in procurement of the new electricity meters, I told him that it was due to the delay in constitution of the Lesco board and as soon as it was formed, we immediately started the process to procure meters after getting the budget approved. Then he also sought some explanation regarding procedural violations regarding removal/reinstatement of a couple of officers. During the discussion, the inquiry member said that I have not written speaking orders in detail in this regard. At this, I said I did it as per the format of Lesco,” the Mr Shahid toldDawnon Sunday.

According to a letter of explanation issued in May, the inquiry team claimed to have established charges against Mr Shahid regarding misuse of authority in reinstating the officers without valid justifications, working as both CEO as well as director (operations), financial mismanagement, overbilling and procedural and procurement irregularities in the wake of 132kV circuit breakers’ purchase. Similarly, the letter of explanation also held other officers responsible for various wrongdoings.

After issuance of this letter, an order was issued by the Lesco management on July 4 in which Mr Shahid was asked to reply to the letter of explanation within 14 days but he neither submitted reply within stipulated time nor responded, thereby rendering the opportunity for defense utilised. A final show-cause notice was issued on June 2 on which the officer sought clarification and fair consideration of several points mentioned therein.

“Consequent upon consideration of the facts, it is found that Mr Shahid Haidar is guilty of charges in this case. Therefore, I being authorized officer by the competent authority hereby impose the penalty of removal from service upon him,” reads the order.

However, Mr Haider rejects all the allegations as well as the decision made against him. “Where are the 4/5 letters/reminders I wrote to the quarters concerned for the provision of record to enable me to reply in writing to the letter of explanation. But no one bothered to listen to my repeated requests. This exposes their motive, as they imposed the major penalty of removal from service on the basis of so-called allegations of procedural irregularities without having my written reply,” Mr Haider said.

“I just ask them why they kept me deprived of accessing the record to reply to the explanation letter and other queries. They did this intentionally to punish me,” he alleged, claiming that he did a lot to control overbilling as it was evident from demoting senior officials to junior positions besides removing several officers from service. “The allegations levelled against me are even contrary to my job description under the law,” he said.

Moreover, in a letter to the prime minister,the former CEO termed the inquiry process driven by biased and predisposition rather than facts and fairness. He said the evidence was assessed in a balanced and just manner.

“The entire proceeding has caused me considerable distress and tarnished the reputation I built over a lifetime of honest public service,” he lamented.

He said that a neutral and transparent reevaluation from an impartial officer would reaffirm his commitment to public service. “The allegations against me are unfounded because I have been condemned unheard. Neither my statement was recorded nor any questionnaire was handed over to me to unearth the truth. The findings and recommendations are without any footings,” he claimed.

When contacted, Lesco’s chief executive officer Mr Ramzan Butt dispelled the impression created by his predecessor (Shahid Haidar) and termed his stance baseless. “This was a high-powered inquiry initiated on the orders of the Prime Minister. During inquiry he was given ample time to respond to the explanation letter in his defence. But he failed to do so,” he maintained.

Asked why Lesco didn’t give him access to record for submitting written response to the inquiry committee, Mr Butt rejected Mr Haidar’s allegation. “Mr Haidar is unnecessarily terming the inquiry team and others biased against him. The inquiry has been conducted fairly,” he maintained.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2025