NOC issuance row: Explanation sought from deputy commissioner Tank

PESHAWAR: The Board of Revenue has issued a notice to Deputy Commissioner Tank Tanveer Khattak by directing him to explain his position within two weeks for refusing to implement orders from the Senior Member Board of Revenue (SMBR) and issuing of a no-objection certificate (NOC) to an under trial Qanoongo for promotion.

The move came after allegations surfaced that the deputy commissioner failed to act on the directives from SMBR and issued the NOC for the promotion of Qanoongo Israr Shah, who was under trial in an anti-corruption court in Dera Ismail Khan and was facing a departmental inquiry by the SMBR.

An official from the SMBR confirmed that no individual facing court trials or inquiries was eligible for promotion until final clearance, terming the issuance of the NOC a serious violation of procedure.

Applicant Asmat Shah accused the deputy commissioner of deliberately delaying the enforcement of the SMBR’s orders and ignoring the inquiry findings submitted by Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Yousaf Jatoi regarding Israr Shah.

He alleged that the deputy commissioner openly refused to act, saying, “I am the DC, not sitting here to follow SMBR.”The applicant claimed that Khattak made compliance conditional upon the withdrawal of a complaint filed against him on the Pakistan Citizen’s Portal.

Previously, DC Khattak, while addressing an open court session, had declared that the district administration was accountable to the public and that corruption would not be tolerated.When contacted, Tanveer Khattak said that he had issued the NOC mistakenly, adding that charge-sheet orders had also been issued. He said that further punishment would be awarded in accordance with the rules.