ISLAMABAD - The names of Vice Air Chief Farhat Hussain Khan and Wing Commander (Retd) Imtiaz are under consideration for the slot of director general Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) while Yousaf Abbas is being considered for the deputy director general slot, it is reliably learnt.
Reportedly, the government may appoint Farhat Khan as DG Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) after his retirement sometime this year. The proposal to let the incumbent DG CAA Khalid Choudhry continue with his present responsibilities till his tenure's completion in December this year is also being discussed.
Some aviation circles also believe, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is inclined to appoint the DG CAA from the business community but confirm that Khan's name for the top boss at the CAA is 'seriously thought over.'
The removal of the Secretary Defence Lieutenant General (Retd) Asif Yasin Malik and Managing Director Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Junaid Yunus are also on the cards as part of an expected top-level administrative reshuffle at the MoD, CAA and PIA.
Taking exception to the ever-declining professional standards in Pakistan's state-owned commercial aviation sector, the government has already pulled the PIA and CAA out of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) control in an attempt to end the ministry's apparently undue influence over these departments.
Following the prime minister's Monday decision to bring the aviation wing comprising CAA, PIA and the Air Security Force (ASF) under the Cabinet Division's control, the MoD would no longer be exercising any authority over these departments. This, credible aviation officials believe, is "finally a right step towards resurrecting the dead aviation sector."
"This should have been done long ago. It was the much-needed initiative. Especially, the organisations like CAA have been flooded with the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) men in blatant violation of merit. The CAA officers are sidelined and await promotions for years and all this happened right under the MoD's patronage," a well-placed source in the CAA commented.
The CAA Ordinance 1982, the sources furthered, was introduced to make the CAA an independent and autonomous body separate of the MoD, as envisaged in the ordinance's preamble. Later, however, the top baboos at the MoD got the ordinance amended with the inclusion of the Section 4 in the said ordinance, which, the officials said, opened the 'floodgates' for nepotism, favouritism and corruption. The said section allegedly allowed the MoD unprecedented interference in the CAA affairs on the pretext of dealing with 'policy matters.'
Section 4 states, "Power of the federal government to issue directives: The Federal Government may, as and when it considers necessary, issue directives to the authority, and if a question arises whether any matter is a matter of policy or not, the decision of the federal government shall be final."
In misuse of this article, sources shared, even routine transfers and postings at the MoD were carried out while declaring them as policy matters.
"Since the inclusion of this section, the CAA got 'flooded' with the deputationists from the PAF and other government departments," the officials said.
Presently, of the 18 director-ranked officials at the CAA, only one director Vikram Singh (Director Works) belongs to the CAA while the other 17 are either deputationists or have been given additional charges on the MoD's directives, it is learnt.
At the CAA, till date, only one Deputy DG (Aurangzeb Khan) had been from the CAA department whereas all the other DDGs were the deputationists, according to the insiders. This shows the extent of outside influence over the CAA.
In addition, the incumbent DG CAA Khalid Choudhry has been facing serious allegations of nepotism, favouritism and corruption during his term as CAA chief. In several conversations with this correspondent on different occasions, the DG CAA has although denied these allegations, cases of financial corruption and mismanagement that surfaced during his tenure as well as the previous tenures have been pending in the superior courts and National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The Supreme Court has taken strong exception to Choudhry's appointment as DG CAA through a MoD-issued office order instead of the issuance of a proper notification by the Establishment Division.
The DG has also been accused of appointing Fauzia Saleem Khan, the CAA's former chief financial officer (CFO) and a deputationist, as the authority's Chief Human Resource Committee without Establishment Division's notification and elevating Air Commodore (r) Riaz, one of Choudhry's close relatives, as information technology (IT) consultant at the CAA against a lucrative salary, perks and privileges exceeding four hundred thousand rupees per month.
Yousaf Abbas, a senior CAA officer, was the Chief HR Committee when the incumbent DG CAA Khalid Choudhry had assumed charge last year. In protest of Choudhry's elevation, Abbas had proceeded on long leave. If made deputy DG, he would be second officer from within the CAA to occupy this slot.