KP Govt In A Fix Over Show Cause Notices To VR Beneficiaries

PESHAWAR Dec. 01 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 01st Dec, 2016 ) : The provincial government of Khyber Pakthunkhwa has misinterpreted the order of the Supreme Court in the VR (Voluntary Return) case and issued the show cause notices in one go to over 900 employees ranging from officers of the senior positions to junior level employees including peons and sweepers.

The Supreme Court in its judgment on October 24 this year directed all the Federal and provincial Governments to initiate departmental proceedings against the employees who made Voluntary Return (VR) to NAB protected under section 25 (a) of NAB ordinance.

As per the document available with APP, there was no mention of issuing any show cause notice to such employees in the Supreme Court verdict while the KP Establishment department started issuing show cause notices to the employees giving them fourteen days time to explain their position without being conducted into their cases which are of very petty/audit nature .

Even in some VR cases, the employees have been issued show cause notices involved in recovery of less than rupees one thousand. A sweeper has been issued show cause notice involving recovery of Rs.

430. The affected employees when contacted told that in most of the VR cases in NAB KP, no loss to government exchequer reported as the VR law is duly protected under the section 25 (a) of NAB and most of the VRs were made by NAB in those cases where evidence was too weak and NAB was unable to prove it in the court of law.

The affectees also complained that the provincial government should not equally treat the cases of the plea bargain and voluntary return as in the former the accused was arrested and trialed in the court while in the later, there was no such arrest and prosecution involved.

Section 25 (A) applied on employees who made voluntary return without being arrested and prosecuted while section 25 (B) applied on employees who are formally arrested by the NAB KP and trialed in the Accountability Courts and released after making plea bargain.

So the provincial government should maintain a difference between both sections of the NAB law, they argued. According to sources privy to the government, the Establishment Department KP is mulling to withdraw the show cause notices issued to the employees, the name of which were provided by the NAB KP.

The Supreme Court has stayed implementation of the show cause notices till final decision by the apex court. It merits a mention here that the Sindh Government has issued warning to such employees in the province and dispose of their matter while the KP government put at stake the services of the various senior most competent officers both from the bureaucracy and technocracy.

Show cause is the last resort issued to any employee which culminated at his dismissal from the service as no justice was done in such matters. The affectees have been punished unheared both in NAB and by the provincial govt without conducting proper inquiry under E&D rules.

it is pertinent to mention that E&D rules 2011 of KP does not permit any sort of punishment in case of VR. The PTI led coalition government in the province in a bid to take political advantage of the matter is trying to make the innocent government employees scapegoat despite the fact that E&D Rules 2011 does not permit any sort of punishment in case of VR. APP/ayz/slm/bmq