Taking a belated action towards implementation of the SC verdict on the NRO after a passage of 104 days, the federal government on Wednesday sacked the top law officer of the National Accountability Bureau, Danishwar Malik and Principal Staff Officer to the Interior Minister, Sajjad Haider. Notification for termination of both the government functionaries has been issued, sources told this scribe.
Danishwar Malik was responsible for overseeing and representing the government in the re-opened corruption cases being heard in various courts after the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) void ab initio. An inquiry was under way against Danishwar in the law ministry and he was dismissed after being found guilty of negligence while performing his duties.
A 17-member larger bench of the Supreme Court in its judgement on December 17 had directed the ouster of Danishwar Malik as Prosecutor General of NAB for his failure to open the cases against the beneficiaries of the NRO, after it was trashed by the apex court. The court also ordered the ouster of Deputy Prosecutor General Abdul Baseer Qureshi from NAB, as they were held responsible for concealing the facts.
The Interior Ministry had terminated the services of Sajjad Haider, the Principal Staff Officer to Interior Minister Rehman Malik. Secretary Interior Qamar Zaman Chaudhry said the notification for termination of Sajjad Haider's service was issued on Wednesday.
Sajjad Haider, a Deputy Director of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is considered a close friend of Interior Minister Rehman Malik and is also a beneficiary of controversial NRO, which was trashed by the apex court. He was co-accused in various corruption cases filed against Rehman Malik in the Accountability Courts across the country, including the yellow cab scam. He had served under Rehman Malik and then as FIA Additional Director General. Later, he was dismissed by the then Interior Secretary Tasneem Noorani in 2001 but was reinstated with retrospective effect, by the PPP government and was posted as PSO to Rehman Malik.