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SLAMABAD, Oct 11: The appointment of Zaka Ashraf as chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board was overshadowed by a petition filed in the Supreme Court by a senior officer of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd on Tuesday, seeking recovery of losses suffered by the nation because of irregularities and corruption allegedly committed by Mr Ashraf as head of the bank.
Advocate Mian Abdul Rauf, who filed the petition on behalf of Senior Executive Vice President of ZTBL Mohammad Nadeem Chohan, also requested the court to set aside the Sept 28, 2011, notification under which Mr Ashraf was allowed to continue as president of the bank.
Zaka Ashraf, who is also chairman of the Ashraf Group of Industries, is considered to be a close friend of President Asif Ali Zardari.
The federal government, through establishment secretary, State Bank of Pakistan and finance secretary, besides Mr Ashraf, are respondents in the petition. Several annexures have been attached to substantiate the allegations levelled in the petition.
Mr Ashraf, the petition alleges, is not qualified to become president of the agriculture bank and, therefore, not eligible to continue to hold the same office.
The petition alleges that he is hampered by lack of qualifications and is also disqualified in view of his demonstrated lack of honesty and integrity.
On Aug 30, 2008, the finance division had nominated Mr Ashraf as president of the ZTBL and the bank`s board of directors confirmed his appointment on Sept 3.
But the SBP declared him unfit to hold the post. Subsequently challenged before the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court the appointment was declared illegal, prompting Mr Ashraf to institute an intra-court appeal that was transferred to the Islamabad High Court and is still pending there.
After his term as ZTBL president expired on Sept 3, 2011, the finance division issued a notification on Sept 28, allowing him to continue to hold the post.
His appointment, the petition alleges, is illegal and mala fide and result of his direct influence with the person at the helm of affairs.
The petition accuses Mr Ashraf of being involved in corruption, committing irregularities and serious violations of law and indulging in favouritism and discrimination.
Citing an internal ZTBL audit report, the petition highlights 32 cases of irregular appointments in violation of bank`s own policies with an annual financial impact of Rs58 million.
The petition says that despite a ban imposed by the federal government on fresh recruitments from April 2008 to February 2009, Mr Ashraf illegally employed 11 officials in the Kissan Support Services (Pvt) Ltd without any advertisement in the newspapers and open competition. The Auditor General of Pakistan also objected to the appointments for creating a liability of Rs23.9 million. These officers were later reappointed in the bank with the same designations knowing well that two of them had been fined by the Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan.
Mr Ashraf allegedly awarded a Rs100 million contract of designing and consultancy of ZTBL building in Abbottabad in violation of procurement rules and transparent process to a firm owned by his brother-in-law.
Likewise, he got his secretariat on the 12th floor of the building in Islamabad renovated bypassing procurement rules. He also allegedly awarded a contract for supply of fertiliser to a single company in violation of rules and created exclusive franchise/monopoly at public cost, the petition alleged.
The agriculture and farming community is in dire need of crop inputs and tractors, which plays a pivotal role in the development of agriculture, the petition says. But Mr Ashraf as president exposed the agriculture sector to immense losses and the growth level witnessed a slide resulting in decline in lending. The tractor loans scheme alone registered a negative trend by 93 per cent, the petition alleges.
Advocate Mian Abdul Rauf, who filed the petition on behalf of Senior Executive Vice President of ZTBL Mohammad Nadeem Chohan, also requested the court to set aside the Sept 28, 2011, notification under which Mr Ashraf was allowed to continue as president of the bank.
Zaka Ashraf, who is also chairman of the Ashraf Group of Industries, is considered to be a close friend of President Asif Ali Zardari.
The federal government, through establishment secretary, State Bank of Pakistan and finance secretary, besides Mr Ashraf, are respondents in the petition. Several annexures have been attached to substantiate the allegations levelled in the petition.
Mr Ashraf, the petition alleges, is not qualified to become president of the agriculture bank and, therefore, not eligible to continue to hold the same office.
The petition alleges that he is hampered by lack of qualifications and is also disqualified in view of his demonstrated lack of honesty and integrity.
On Aug 30, 2008, the finance division had nominated Mr Ashraf as president of the ZTBL and the bank`s board of directors confirmed his appointment on Sept 3.
But the SBP declared him unfit to hold the post. Subsequently challenged before the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court the appointment was declared illegal, prompting Mr Ashraf to institute an intra-court appeal that was transferred to the Islamabad High Court and is still pending there.
After his term as ZTBL president expired on Sept 3, 2011, the finance division issued a notification on Sept 28, allowing him to continue to hold the post.
His appointment, the petition alleges, is illegal and mala fide and result of his direct influence with the person at the helm of affairs.
The petition accuses Mr Ashraf of being involved in corruption, committing irregularities and serious violations of law and indulging in favouritism and discrimination.
Citing an internal ZTBL audit report, the petition highlights 32 cases of irregular appointments in violation of bank`s own policies with an annual financial impact of Rs58 million.
The petition says that despite a ban imposed by the federal government on fresh recruitments from April 2008 to February 2009, Mr Ashraf illegally employed 11 officials in the Kissan Support Services (Pvt) Ltd without any advertisement in the newspapers and open competition. The Auditor General of Pakistan also objected to the appointments for creating a liability of Rs23.9 million. These officers were later reappointed in the bank with the same designations knowing well that two of them had been fined by the Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan.
Mr Ashraf allegedly awarded a Rs100 million contract of designing and consultancy of ZTBL building in Abbottabad in violation of procurement rules and transparent process to a firm owned by his brother-in-law.
Likewise, he got his secretariat on the 12th floor of the building in Islamabad renovated bypassing procurement rules. He also allegedly awarded a contract for supply of fertiliser to a single company in violation of rules and created exclusive franchise/monopoly at public cost, the petition alleged.
The agriculture and farming community is in dire need of crop inputs and tractors, which plays a pivotal role in the development of agriculture, the petition says. But Mr Ashraf as president exposed the agriculture sector to immense losses and the growth level witnessed a slide resulting in decline in lending. The tractor loans scheme alone registered a negative trend by 93 per cent, the petition alleges.
