Outgoing govt elevates Intelligence Bureau's status to division

• Cabinet Division issues notification after PM Kakar's approval.
• Former IB chief terms the move as a "hasty decision".
  
• Says decision should've been made by elected government.
  

ISLAMABAD: In a significant shift in policy, the caretaker government has raised the status of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to "Division" rank, enabling its director general (DG) to assume the additional responsibility of division secretary, The News reported on Tuesday.

The Cabinet Division formally announced the elevation of the bureau to division rank following the approval of Caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar. The notification provisions that any necessary consequential changes to the Rules of Business, 1973, would be made as soon as possible.

Commenting on the development, a former IB chief, on condition of anonymity, has termed the caretaker government's policy change as a "hasty decision" stressing that the move should have been made by an elected government and not the caretaker setup.

"It doesn’t make any sense that an elected government is in the process of taking charge but the caretaker government is taking such a major policy decision in its last days," he said.

"The 'division' status will allow the IB head to attend the cabinet meetings which normally was not the case when the IB was operating as a bureau. 

"Previously the IB chief was invited whenever needed to brief the federal cabinet but now as a head of the agency, he can participate in the cabinet meeting as an ex-officio member of the division. This is the only important reason that I see in this policy change," he added.

Responding to a query regarding any changes in the IB's operations, the former official said that the decision won’t make any major change in the functioning of the bureau.

Meanwhile, on the issue of whether the IB's funds will be subjected to an audit, as required by other divisions, the former bureau head maintained that the government will not audit the funds of IB because of the nature of its work.

There are a lot of funds at the disposal of the IB chief and in some cases, the DG does not even need to inform about the utilisation of these special funds because of the ongoing secret operations, he noted.

On the issue of transfers and postings of IB officials being notified in the Gazette of Pakistan, as previously all the transfers and postings were carried out through an office order, the former bureau head said the transfers and postings will continue through office orders even after the change.

However, another former bureaucrat believes that after getting the status of division, IB’s funds will have to be audited now. The decision about this major policy change should have been taken by the elected government instead of a caretaker government, he added. 

"After elevating IB to the status of division it will become easier for its officials to share intelligence," he opined.