ISLAMABAD, July 26: The federal government relegated Establishment Secretary Sohail Ahmed to a sinecure post of ‘officer on special duty’ on Tuesday, about two hours after he had submitted to the Supreme Court a notification transferring Hussain Asghar, the IG of Gilgit-Baltistan, back to the Federal Investigation Agency in the face of a stern court warning of immediate action against him on contempt of court charge for not complying with its orders.

Mr Sohail Ahmed had been asked by the court on Monday to appear the following day along with the notification transferring Mr Asghar back to the FIA to enable him to resume the Haj scam investigation. When the five-judge bench was informed by the secretary that the summary was still lying with the competent authority, the court gave him a few hours to either produce the notification or face the music.

The warning worked and Mr Ahmed came up with the notification which apparently satisfied the court but angered the government which immediately sidelined him and made him officer on special duty.

When the PML-N came up with a strong reaction to the government move and same TV channels started criticising the government for what they termed a direct confrontation with judiciary, a spokesman of the government described Mr Ahmed’s action as a “violation of the laid down rules and regulations”.

A press release issued by the government said: “The Establishment Division had moved a summary to the competent authority for transfer of IG Gilgit-Baltistan. The summary was under consideration and the opinion of the Ministry of Law and Justice was solicited. In the meantime, ex-secretary Establishment Division himself issued the notification of the transfer Mr Hussain Asghar.”

The spokesman said that to appoint and transfer IGs and chief secretaries, consultation between the chief executive of concerned province or region and the federal administrative head was essential. “Moreover, for appointments and transfers, under the 1973 Rules of Business, Gilgit-Baltistan’s Empowerment and Self-Governance Order 2009 and other related rules are also applicable.”