RAHEEL SHARIF SERVICES FOR SAUDI COALITION AT STAKE DUE TO SUPREME COURT VERDICT

  Monday, 17 December 2018
source: Shiite

Pakistan’s former army chief General Raheel Sharif (retd) will no more be the head of Saudi Arabia’s so-called Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition in case no proper approval is given to him by the federal cabinet, the apex court of the country has stated this in its judgment.
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan also addressed the appointment of former army chief General Raheel Sharif (retd) to a position in a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition, in its judgment on the issue of dual nationality possessed by government officials and members of the judiciary,
The top court sought the record relating to any approval given in Raheel Sharif’s case after his superannuation. In the verdict, bench raises issue of appointment of former army chief Raheel Sharif to position in Saudi Arabia-led military coalition
The court order said: “With respect to General (retired) Raheel Sharif, documents were filed showing No Objection Certificates (NOC) from the General Headquarters and the Ministry of Defence, but according to Section 3 of the Act of 1966, it is in fact the federal government (or a person or authority authorised by it in this behalf) which can grant permission to an ex-government servant to seek or take up employment as an officer or servant of a foreign government or a foreign agency; and according to the law laid down by this court in the judgment reported as Messrs Mustafa Impex…the federal government means the cabinet and the said judgment was in the field when the NOCs were granted... Let the secretary, Ministry of Defence, file a report in this regard within one month from the issuance of this judgement and in case the requisite NOC is not granted by the federal government within such time the foreign employment of General (retired) Raheel Sharif shall cease with immediate effect.”
With regard to the alleged foreign employment of former director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence retired Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the verdict reproduced a certificate of September 25, which was submitted to the court and which certified that he “did not take any foreign posting/assignment in the UAE or elsewhere abroad after retirement”.
The apex court had taken suo motu notice of the holders of dual nationality in government employment and among members of the judiciary and sought reports from registrars of the Supreme Court and high courts and the federal and provincial government departments about persons with BPS-17 and above.
It had also constituted a committee to look into the matter.
The committee was headed by the director general of Federal Investigation Agency and included the chairman of National Database and Registration Authority; director general for immigration and passports; secretary of the interior ministry, additional secretary of Establishment Division; and member (administration) of the Federal Board of Revenue.
According to the report, there are 1,116 persons with dual and foreign nationality in government service. A total of 1,249 spouses of government officials have also been identified during the investigation.


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