ISLAMABAD: The sacked Managing Director, National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) is to face disciplinary proceedings for allegedly violating prescribed laws before assuming charge as Chairman NTC, well-informed sources told Business Recorder.
The Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunication (MoI-T&T) submitted a summary to the Cabinet stating that National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) was established under Section 41 of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organization) Act, 1996, for provision of telecommunication services within Pakistan on a non-exclusive basis only to the armed forces, defence projects, Federal Government, Provincial Governments or such other Government institutions as the Federal Government may determine.
The Cabinet was apprised that according to Section 41(2) of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organization) Act 1996, the NTC is managed by a Management Board consisting of a Chairman and two other members appointed by the Federal Government, and that the present Management Board of NTC was constituted under the chair of Secretary, MoIT&T with the approval of the Federal Government on July 29, 2019.
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It was further stated that Miraj Gul was appointed as the Managing Director, NTC by the Federal Government in MP-1 for three years vide Notification on September 27, 2021.
The MoIT&T apprised that the National Telecomm-unication Corporation (Service) Regulations, 2023 had been recently promulgated; that clauses 2(33) and 2(36) of these regulations provided that the Chairman and Members of NTC Management Board shall be appointed by Federal Government but that violating these provisions, the MD, NTC had assumed charge of the Chairman, NTC Management Board, without any intimation to the MoIT&T and without approval of the Federal Government.
A Notification of August 11, 2023 issued by NTC Management for renaming the post of MD NTC as Chairman NTC without recourse to the laid down legal process was brought to the knowledge of the Cabinet along with the fact that after assuming the charge of the Chairman, the MD had also approved an interim arrangement assigning the look-after charge of Member (Technical) and Member (Finance) to two employees of the NTC in violation of the Act and Regulations without even informing the MoIT&T.
It was explicated that when the MoIT&T became aware of such illegal acts it had sought specific clarifications from the MD, NTC on these violations and misuse of authority.
The MD had been advised not to take any administrative, financial and disciplinary action as “Chairman NTC” unless the matter was finalised by the competent forum.
However, the response received was without any proper explanation or specific details. Another letter on similar lines was again sent to him which was also not convincingly replied to.
The Ministry further explained that a meeting of the NTC Management Board, chaired by the Secretary IT&T, was held on October 27, 2023 where the NTC Employees (Service) Regulations 2023 and actions taken under these regulations were discussed.
On specific queries posed by the Board members, the MD and his team members were unable to justify the illegal actions taken by the MD after his unlawful “assumption’ of charge of Chairman NTC Management Board and subsequent issuance of various notifications without any supportive provisions of law and regulations.
The Ministry highlighted that the terms and conditions of appointment of the MD issued by the NTC in the ‘offer of appointment’ of November 19, 2021 provided that the contract could be terminated on completion of tenure or on one month’s notice on either side or payment of one month’s basic salary in lieu thereof.
In view of the glaring misuse of authority without any legal basis, the MoIT&T proposed that to safeguard the interests of the Government and the Corporation (NTC), the contract appointment of Miraj Gul, MD, NTC be terminated with payment of one month’s basic pay in lieu of one month’s notice, as per clause 9 of the terms and conditions of his offer of appointment’.
It was also proposed that the additional charge of the post be assigned to the senior most employee of the Corporation, Mian Muhammad Shafique, presently posted as Chief Engineer (Def), for a period of three months or till the appointment of a regular Managing Director, whichever was earlier.
Some Cabinet members also advised that in addition to the termination of his contract, disciplinary proceedings must also be initiated against the MD for the blatant violation of rules and regulations.
The MoIT&T supported this point of view and averred that the ministry had sufficient evidence to initiate disciplinary action against him.
The caretaker prime minister and members agreed to the proposed course of action and approved the immediate termination of the MD’s services by payment of one month’s basic salary in lieu of one month’s notice and initiation of disciplinary proceedings.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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