First female auditor general of KP made OSD

PESHAWAR: The first female Auditor General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been dumped as an officer on special duty after her premature transfer without citing any reasons, official sources told The News.
Ms Hashmat Iqbal, BPS-21, was made an OSD after she served against the post for seven months only. She was entitled to serve for three years at the position as per service rules.
An official said that premature transfer of the female officer was also a violation of the Supreme Court’s decision passed in the well-known Anita Turab case in which the apex court strictly banned premature transfer of the officers.
On the other hand, the premature transfer of a female officer from such a key post would also show gender discrimination in the department, he observed.
An official at the Auditor General Office, requesting anonymity, said Hashmat Iqbal’s seven-month performance was much better than previous officers who served on the post.
“She was dedicated to her work,” the official said. After taking charge of his office, the new Auditor General of Pakistan has issued order for her premature transfer and appointed Taimur Khisro in her place.
Before her posting as Auditor General KP, Hashmat Iqbal was serving as Controller Military Accounts (CMA), Peshawar. She served on various posts of audit and accounts since 1984.
She also remained the deputy auditor general to the Accountant General Pakistan Revenues (AGPR), and financial controller in Finance Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Hashmat Iqbal had identified two mega scams in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including the GPO pension scam worth billions of rupees and the multi-billion rupees scam of weapons purchase in the KP Police Department.