The two deputy chairmen of grade 20 were appointed by Interior Ministry Rehman Malik in violation of Nadra Ordinance 2000. The PAC - a top parliamentary watchdog - in its meeting on December 13 had declared the appointments illegal with directives to the Ministry to withdraw the notification within five days. A senior Nadra official who wished not to be named told Business Recorder that the Ministry had not issued any directive and both Deputy Chairmen Dr Tahir Ikram and Naveed Jan were still occupying the lucrative positions.
He said the Ministry of Interior was reluctant to implement PAC directives due to political pressure by its coalition partners. "Out of two deputy chairmen, one has close affiliation with Awami National Party (ANP) while another is a supporter of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q)," he said.
The official said Nadra Board, in a meeting held on October 4, unanimously resolved that under Nadra Ordinance 2000, the Interior Ministry had no authority to appoint any employee including Deputy Chairman Nadra. "The board decision was also conveyed to the Ministry of Interior through letter no Nadra/CS/13 dated October 24, 2012 but the Ministry did not bother to reply," he said.