Possessing rural domicile, posted in urban areas: NAB withdraws notice for provision of Sindh govt employees’ details

KARACHI: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has withdrawn its notice issued earlier regarding the provision of details of the Sindh government officials possessing domiciles of rural areas and posted in urban areas, especially in Karachi and Hyderabad.

On April 27, 2021, the NAB Karachi had directed the Sindh government to provide the details of employees from Grade 1 to Grade 22 working in all Sindh government departments, having rural domicile but posted in urban areas.

The NAB Karachi on May 18, 2021, has withdrawn its earlier direction through an formal letter addressed to the secretary Services, General Administration and Coordination Department (SGA&D).

According to the official documents, copies of which are available with The News, the NAB action was initiated following a complaint of Barrister Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability.

Mirza Shahzad Akbar, in his letter addressed to the chairman NAB, asked him to initiate an inquiry on alleged violation of the applicable quota in Sindh by way of fraudulent actions on behalf of the Sindh government.

Shahzad Akbar, in his letter, added that he has been apprised of grave illegalities being committed by the government of Sindh for the past several years, which amounts to corrupt practices under the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.

Shahzad Akbar added that from the bare perusal of the record, it seems that thorough fraud and unlawful domicles were issued to thousands of Sindh’s citizens (interior) to accomodate them in government jobs on quota reserved for Sindh's urban population hailing from Karachi, Sukkur and Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, Sindh Information and Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has expressed gratitude to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal for withdrawing the letter earlier issued by the NAB to the Sindh government to collect details about its recruitment affairs.

In his tweet on Tuesday, Nasir Shah said that the history of the Pakistan People's Party was testament to the fact that they had always honoured the state institutions. He said that they had always differed in this regard within the domains of law and ethics. One proof to this fact is that former president Asif Zardari always appeared in courts despite his ill health irrespective of the fact that false cases had been instituted against him, he added.