Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Thursday observed that any government officer who will not disclose his foreign nationality will be sacked.

The observation came during hearing of a suo motu case pertaining to the dual nationality of government officers by a three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umer Ata Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan.

During the proceedings, over 1,000 government officers of various departments appeared in Court Room No 1, which has the seating capacity for about 300 people. The CJP directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director General Bashir Memon to hear the complaints of the officers.

A government counsel presented a supplementary report before the court stating that an advertisement was run in the newspapers on the court orders asking the public servants to disclose their foreign/dual nationalities. The FIA chief apprised the court that data of 1, 82090 officers was collected till March 18, 2018. He said data of 36, 000 more officers was also being obtained. He said data of 1, 50933 officers has already been examined. He said only 655 officers had disclosed their dual nationality by their own so far. He said only five officers had foreign nationality.

He informed the court that spouses of 665 officers had dual nationality. He said spouses of 82 officers were foreign nationals having dual nationality. He said spouses of 254 officers having dual nasality were Pakistani nationals. He said another 321 officers and their spouses both had dual nationality. He said 152 officers had concealed their dual nationality.

The FIA chief stated that the total number of grade-17 officers was over 0.6 million. The chief justice asked the FIA chief that if he wanted, the court could summon those institutions that did not cooperate. Bashir Memon then presented before the court the list of those institutions which did not cooperate with the FIA.

“It has to be seen what was the reply of those officers who concealed their dual nationality,” the chief justice noted. He said if work would be done from morning to 11 pm in the night, the matter can be settled in days.

The chief justice noted that Pakistan had dual nationality pact with only 19 countries across the globe. He said anyone can get the national identity card in Pakistan through fraud.

The FIA chief stated that Pakistan’s ambassador posted in Morocco also had British nationality. “How such an ambassador can show his interest for Pakistan,” the chief justice wondered. He said any officer who will not tell the truth to the court will be suspended. He said the court did not expect from the public servants that they will hide the truth. He said those who were doing government service by telling lies were fraudulent people.

Memon apprised the court that the Punjab government has provided the data of its 53,755 officers, whereas the Balochistan government has provided the date of its 13,511 officers. Similarly, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has provided the data of its 1,350 officers, whereas the Sindh government has provided the data of 211 officers.

During the proceedings, several officers raised their hands contending that FIA had presented a wrong report. They said the advertisement published in newspapers on the court orders was also full of errors.

Several officers contended that they did not have dual nationality, however their names were also included in the list of dual nationals. Some offices stated that they were attached with the private sector, however their names were included in the FIA’s list.

During the hearing, some female officers also spoke to the chief justice. A female officer told the chief justice that she was lucky enough as she was seeing him due to the case. She said she was pleased that the patriots like the chief justice were there in the country.

Published in Daily Times, April 6^th 2018.