President Arif Alvi has accepted the resignation of Azam Swati, the former Federal Minister for Science and Technology, it emerged on Thursday.
Swati, a member of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, had resigned from the ministry last month to “uphold moral authority” in the face of a probe over allegations that he played a role in the ‘unlawful’ transfer of former Islamabad police chief Jan Mohammad.
A notification issued by the Cabinet Division dated Jan 9 said that the president had, upon the advice of Prime Minister Imran Khan, accepted the PTI leader’s resignation with effect from Dec 6.
The former IGP’s transfer took place after Swati’s son registered a case against a family of slum dwellers for allegedly trespassing on his family’s land. Five people, including two women, were arrested for trespassing on the land and beating up Swati’s guards. They were released after a day’s detention as police said a settlement had been reached between the minister and the detained family.
On November 19, a court-formed joint investigation team had held Swati and his employees responsible for the altercation that took place at his farmhouse and allegedly transpired into the police chief’s transfer.
The Supreme Court in the last hearing of the case had referred a matter relating to the alleged amassing of wealth beyond known sources of income by Swati to the Federal Board of Revenue as well as the Islamabad police for a comprehensive probe.
The court has been mulling proceeding against Swati under Article 62(1)(f) ─ the same section that led to the disqualification last year of Nawaz Sharif and Jahangir Tareen.
