Wajid Zia — non controversial head of controversial JIT

ISLAMABAD: Controversies surrounding the JIT apart, there is at least one man in the Team — Wajid Zia — who because of his repute and standing is closely watched by many as to what will be his findings in the final report.

Belonging to the Police Service of Pakistan and hailing from Murree, Wajid Zia enjoys a good reputation both amongst the civil servants and the people of his area. For those who know him personally, what Zia will finally write would really matter for them whether it goes against the ruling Sharif family or clears them.

Wajid, who heads the JIT, is said to be a God fearing man. “Let me assure you, irrespective of pressures from any side he will do his job fairly and justly,” an officer belonging to the Police Service of Pakistan told this correspondent.

However, some of his colleagues are not satisfied with the quality of reports, including the media monitoring report that the JIT has submitted before the apex court. 

Before this high profile inquiry, Wajid Zia headed the FIA committee which was constituted a few years back to re-investigate the hi-treason case against former military ruler General (retd) Pervez Musharraf and others for subverting the Constitution on Nov 3, 2007.

The Special Court had directed the FIA to reinvestigate the case and record again the statements of Mr Musharraf, former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, former law minister Zahid Hamid and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar regarding their alleged role in subverting the Constitution.

During the course of investigation in the Musharraf case, according to a source who closely worked with Wajid Zia, he was heard telling his team that they have to do their job fairly without any fear and favour.

The present Panama probe against the ruling Sharif family is considered a much tougher case for both Wajid Zia and other members of the JIT because of pressures from media, political forces and latent powers. All the eyes are set on July 10 when the JIT will submit its final report.

Already a lot has been published concerning the JIT and its members. The JIT has a total of six members. Two came from military agencies while the other four represented the civilian institutions including FIA, NAB, SECP and State Bank of Pakistan. Out of the four civilian members of the JIT, Wajid Zia was the only exception as the other three got enveloped in WhatsApp controversy.

Many, in principle, objected to the inclusion of ISI and MI representatives in the JIT for the reason that it would unnecessarily drag the military establishment in the matter deeply connected with politics and the elected prime minister. However, the Team members from SECP and SBP were objected to by Husain Nawaz. Some other witnesses also approached the apex court against the conduct of some JIT members. The media also wrote about the NAB representative in the JIT, who has already been served with show cause notice following a Supreme Court order.

It is interesting to note that different witnesses, who had appeared before the JIT, had complaints about different members of the JIT. However, those witnesses who were informally approached by this correspondent had one thing common about their account of the JIT proceeding. They all agree that Wajid Zia was respectful, polite and professional.

Wajid Zia is a BS-21 officer of the PSP and is presently posted in the Federal Investigation Agency as it Additional Director General (immigration). He is known in the Police Service for not using connections to get lucrative police postings and that is why most of his service in BS-19 to BS-21 was dedicated to unattractive postings in the organizations like Bureau of Police Research, Intelligence Bureau, Motorway Police, FIA, etc.During the last few years, Zia has also been the key member of Pakistani Haj mission, which did commendable job of facilitating the Pakistani pilgrims.