Pakistan's nuclear bomb architect Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan still officially holds various civil awards conferred on him on different occasions despite being charged of illicit centrifuges' supply to North Korea and Iran, the government said.
The Cabinet Division has told a Senate standing committee that according to official record Qadeer was still the holder of all civil awards he received in the past, a member told Business Recorder here on Friday.
According to the sub-clause 2 of the article 259 of the Constitution, the government can take back both military any civil awards conferred on any person if he or she becomes controversial.
Late President General Ziaul Haq introduced this provision in the Constitution back in 1981 to take back awards from many of the ex military officers for their 'shameful' surrender in 1971 Dhaka debacle. President General Pervez Musharraf pardoned Dr Qadeer in early 2004 after he was accused of nuke supply to North Korea and Iran.
Dr Qadeer is under house arrest since then. An announcement was then made that all civil awards Dr Qadeer received had been taken back. But according to the new revelation, the case is not so.
"Yes, the government has informed us that Qadeer's awards have still not been taken back. I don't know whether it's true. But if it's a wrong information then a charge can be made against the cabinet division," viewed a member of the committee.
The Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet met here on Wednesday to be apprised of what was the criterion for selection of distinguished persons for civil awards and to suggest how it should be carried out.
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