Fawad Hasan Fawad retires while languishing in jail

ISLAMABAD: Fawad Hasan Fawad, ex-principal secretary to two former premiers, was retired from service on Tuesday, Jan 14, 2020, while languishing in jail.

Till date, senior civil servant and principal secretary to Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has not been proven guilty or convicted in any case. He has been in the custody of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) since May 31, 2018. He was arrested in connection with the Ashiana-e-Iqbal housing scheme investigation.

Fawad Hasan also served as secretary implementation, Punjab health secretary and additional secretary for Prime Minister’s Office.

In 2001, General (retd) Pervez Musharraf promulgated Government Servants Ordinance to provide protection to the government employees. Article 23 of the Ordinance reads that if any bureaucrat indulges in an illegality during performance of his official duties, or he is charged with misconduct, NAB could not take him into custody. Only departmental inquiry and proceedings would be carried out against him, and in case of proven guilty, his case would be sent to the Federal Services Tribunal.

The Article says that only the Federal Services Tribunal could decide about any government official’s termination from service, suspension of services, confiscation of annual increment, or declare him not guilty. However, NAB did not care about the article, which is in place since 2001, and arrested Fawad Hasan in Ashiana housing scam.

During this ongoing detention, the senior bureaucrat reached the retirement age of 60 on Jan 14, 2020 and was retired while he’s still languishing in jail. The situation has created unrest among the bureaucracy.