Rawalpindi commissioner allegations his 'personal opinion': Punjab bureaucracy

• PAS, PCS officials remain silent on matter until investigation is held.
• PCS Punjab president says he doesn't want to take stand for Chatha. 
• Commissioner had no role in this regard, says Ehsan Bhutta.

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LAHORE: The allegations of rigging in the February 8 elections by former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha were dismissed by all groups of the bureaucracy posted in Punjab, saying that the accusations were his "personal opinion", The News reported Sunday. 

Meanwhile, top officials of the Pakistan Administrative Service (formerly DMG Group) and Provincial Civil Service (PCS) have decided to remain silent on the allegations until an investigation is held.

A day earlier, Chatha resigned from his protest against electoral irregularities on February 8 under his watch, saying that he did injustice to the people of his city. 

He admitted that “rigging” took place in Rawalpindi Division and took responsibility for it. “We converted the losers into winners with 50,000 votes margin,” he claimed and surrendered himself before the police.

Stressing that he was under pressure from social media and overseas Pakistanis, the official revealed that he even attempted suicide. "13 National Assembly candidates, who were losing, were made to win by a margin of up to 70,000 votes," he added.

'Personal opinion'

Naveed Shahzad Mirza, former president of the Provincial Civil Service Officers Association, Punjab, said the question that arises here is why Chatha levelled the allegations now when he could have done it earlier. 

He said that if the commissioner had made these allegations earlier, maybe no one would have known. “He is retiring in March, so why did he do it now?” Mirza said that the issue of Form 45 was before everybody.

PCS Punjab President Ali Akbar Bhindar said that even though Chatha belonged to the PCS, he did not want to take any stand for or against his statement on the elections because it was his personal matter. 

Bhindar added that Caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi had formed a high-level committee to investigate the issue. He said after the investigation, he would decide whether to take a stand or not.

According to the president of PAS Officers Association Punjab, Ehsan Bhutta, Chatha was retiring on March 8 and his statement on the alleged rigging in the election was his personal opinion. 

Bhutta said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had already said that the commissioner had no role in this regard. “The commissioner has spoken about the alleged rigging in the election which has no legal justification,” he maintained.

He said earlier the matter of alleged pressure by the Dera Ghazi Khan commissioner on Layyah Deputy Commissioner Khalid Pervez on alleged “favour” to some candidates in the election also came to light, which was later denied by the DC. He said the commissioner had no legal role in the election.