Pandora’s box opens in KP illegal recruitment case

PESHAWAR: A new Pandora’s Box has been opened in the illegal recruitment case of 230 employees in the Human Rights Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Secretary Asad Ali has blamed the former PTI minister and the then secretary responsible for illegal recruitment.

Asad Ali, BPS-20 officer and former director general of the Human Rights Department, has filed a formal appeal against a show-cause notice issued by the chief minister.

“It was the orders and instructions received from the then PTI minister for law and law secretary office that the undersigned’s instructions of 23/02/21 were overruled”, he said.

Former provincial minister Akbar Ayub Khan told this correspondent that the provincial government had given a temporary charge for two months and that he had no role in these recruitments. He strongly denied the allegations, stating that if he had any role in the recruitment, the committee would have summoned him during the two-year-long ongoing inquiry.

In a detailed appeal addressed to the chief minister, Asad Ali provides a comprehensive defence, highlighting several key points. He states that, in line with his commitment to fair practices, he canceled the entire recruitment process on February 23, 2021, citing irregularities. His decision to cancel was later overruled by the then minister for Law and the Secretary, who instructed that the process should continue.

In his appeal, he said that transparency and merit were always paramount. In the same spirit, he processed a case to cancel the entire recruitment process even when there was a small doubt about the fulfillment of any criteria. The secretary approved the cancellation summary and the offer letters were cancelled.

However, after some time, the higher authorities intervened and got the cancellation orders withdrawn vide letter No.PS/Nlin/GI&RD/Law/KPK/2021 dated 12 March 2021 addressed to the Secretary of Law & Human Rights Department on which instructions were received to withdraw the cancellation orders.

The letter of Minister of Law and Human Rights, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also indicates that they examined the recruitment process and found it according to the law/rules/regulations. Secretary Law & Human Rights Department being a competent authority had notified members of the shortlisting committee to scrutinise the applications of the candidates for all six categories of posts advertised.

Dr Asad maintains that his role in the recruitment process was limited. From October 2020 to February 2021, he was away attending a senior management course, during which time the process proceeded without his involvement. He claims that the shortlisting and screening committees, composed of senior officers, were solely responsible for reviewing candidates’ applications based on established criteria, and he did not conduct any interviews during the process.

In his appeal, Asad Ali emphasises that despite his absence, he had prioritised transparency and merit. Upon detecting discrepancies, he promptly moved for the cancellation of the recruitment, a decision that the Secretary of the Law Department later ratified. Further, Dr Asad contests the charges leveled by the inquiry committee, asserting that their failure to acknowledge the cancellation of the recruitment process by his authority, as well as the subsequent endorsement by the Minister of Law, renders their findings unjust. He urges that the charges be dismissed, describing them as “baseless, frivolous, and contrary to facts.”