Commission was not one-man show: Lt Gen Hamid

Ehtesab Commission KP

Says got inconclusive response from Imran when KPEC made toothless

PESHAWAR: Lt Gen (retd) Hamid Khan, who resigned as the director general of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission (KPEC) recently, has said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan gave him an inconclusive response when he explained to him that the proposed amendments would make the KPEC ineffective.

“I met Imran Khan to sensitise him about the amendments proposed in the KP Ehtesab Commission Act 2014. His reply was inconclusive. Later, I got messages from him through other people that he won’t allow these amendments,” he recalled.

Defiant and forthright, the retired general has been speaking frequently in recent days to the media to explain the reasons for his resignation on February 10. When asked as to how many interviews he has given in the last four days, he remarked that he was interviewed by almost every TV channel and many other media organisations. “I have now stopped giving interviews,” he added while talking to The News.

Hamid Khan, who served as the corps commander Peshawar from 2005-07 to lead the military operations against the militants in KP and Fata and as president of the National Defence University, Islamabad, before retiring from service, was appointed as director general of the KPEC on October 20, 2014. As he pointed out, he was offered the job by the search and scrutiny committee of three eminent persons and not by the provincial government.

“Under the rules, I had to present my resignation to the governor of KP and I did just that,” he pointed out while explaining that he took all his decisions as the DG KPEC in line with the rules and regulations.

Lt Gen (retd) Hamid Khan said it was true that the KPEC under him was investigating the allegation of involvement of Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak’s office in the case of illegal mining at the Tangi chromite mine in the Charsadda district. “A few ministers hailing from Nowshera, Dera Ismail Khan and other districts, MPAs from Kohat and Karak, former provincial ministers belonging to the ANP and PPP, senior bureaucrats and other government officers were also being investigated for misuse of power and corruption,” he added. He argued that the lawmakers and bureaucrats made amendments in the KP Ehtesab Commission Act 2014 to turn the KPEC into a toothless body.

When asked whether it was true that he wasn’t on speaking terms with the five commissioners of the KPEC for the last six months due to their growing differences, Hamid Khan said this was untrue.

“In any case, no work was being done due to the consultation on the amendments for the last four months. I was resisting interference in the day-to-day working of the KPEC by the commissioners as under the original act they had no authority to do so,” he maintained. He also wondered if there would be an oversight on the KPEC commissioners after empowering them at the expense of the director general as a result of the amendments in the KP Ehtesab Commission Act.

He denied the allegation that the KPEC had become a one-man show as he took all the decisions including the recruitments. “This isn’t true as the executive board met regularly and every decision was taken in its meetings and properly recorded. As DG, I headed the selection committee but all recruitments were duly approved by the commission,” he explained. “By the way, all institutions the world over have one head to ensure unity of command. Instead of damaging an institution, its head, in case of being corrupt or inefficient, could be removed through the proper procedure,” he argued.