Official accuses KPEC commissioners of initiating ‘illegal’ inquiry against him

PESHAWAR: A senior officer of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission (KPEC) has accused the commissioners of the KPEC of involvement in corruption and corrupt practices and complained to the Speaker of the provincial assembly to initiate action against them in his capacity as chairman of the legislative committee on governance and accountability.

Major (R) Sardar Ahsan Khan, additional director investigation at the KPEC, in his letter asked Asad Qaiser, Speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, to call a meeting of the legislative committee on government and accountability to consider his complaint against the commissioners of the KPEC under KP Ehtesab Commission Act 2014, remove them from service and put them on trial for allegedly becoming involved in corruption and corrupt practices.

He levelled these serious allegations against the KPEC commissioners, who include a retired judge, retired army officer and retired government officials, on the basis of his complaint that they ordered an inquiry against him on the application of former MNA Sardar Mushtaq Ahmad.

Sardar Mushtaq, who was elected MNA from Haripur on the PML-N ticket in the 2008 general election and then joined the PPP to unsuccessfully contest the 2013 polls on the PPP ticket, had complained that his arrest by the KPEC was orchestrated by Major (R) Sardar Ahsan.

According to Major (R) Sardar Ahsan, the inquiry ordered by the commissioners of KPEC against him through the director IM&PC was illegal. He termed it interference in the work of KPEC director general and other officials and wrote to the Speaker of KP Assembly to initiate action against the commissioners.

Sardar Mushtaq was arrested by the KPEC on corruption charges on September 30, 2016. He filed a writ petition in the Peshawar High Court against his arrest and was released by the court on bail.

The KPEC has been working without a regular director general following the resignation of Lt Gen (R) Hamid Khan. In fact, Lt Gen (R) Hamid Khan had resigned when his powers as director general were curtailed and the five commissioners of KPEC were given more powers by the PTI-led provincial government on the advice of the KP Assembly.  The KPEC has been hurtling from one crisis to another since its creation. The tussle involving an officer of KPEC and the commissioners is the latest of many issues that have affected KPEC’s working.