Ombudsman office starts quick disposal of complaints

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Ombudsman, Salman Faruqui, has initiated disposal of pending cases on a war footing as hearing of 27000 cases has been started by the regional offices within a week of the appointment of 35 advisors picked up from amongst senior most retired bureaucrats and former judges of the superior courts.

Well-placed official sources told The News here Tuesday that the ombudsman has inherited more than 75000 cases based on applications.

He has reorganised the ombudsman’s office by eliminating the red tape. A high-powered committee headed by Tax Ombudsman Dr. Shoiab Saddal and comprising the federal secretaries concerned - Taimoor Azmat Usman, Ms Nargis Sethi and principal advisor to the Federal Ombudsman Imtiaz Qazi - has selected the advisors for quick disposal of the cases.

The complainants are not required to appear before the authority dealing with the cases but the officials concerned are required to appear along with all relevant documents.

The federal secretaries responsible for the department designated by the complainants would be required to appear in person or their representatives with full authority should appear before the advisor. Any complainant interested in appearing in person on voluntarily basis would be allowed to do so.

The officials concerned are being given 15 days to reply to the complaint and they have been warned that no adjournment would be allowed in any case and in case defendant doesn’t appear or comes without sufficient explanation, the case would be adjudicated on ex-party basis, the sources said.

The Federal Ombudsman is obtaining progress report on daily basis from the regional offices at Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar, Sukkhar, Rawalpindi and Dera Ismail Khan.

He has asked the advisors to dispatch details of the complainants along with relevant documents to the defendants so that they come up with their explanations. The office of the Federal Ombudsman has issued notices receipt of complaints from citizens against the government agencies regarding mal-administration including acts of omission and commission, negligence, delays and incompetence in deciding matters.

These notices have been issued throughout the country at the regional offices and head office of Federal Ombudsman. The cases will be heard at the head office in Islamabad and in regional offices.

Salman Faruqui on assuming charge issued instructions for early disposal of all pending cases and as many as 8,550 cases were disposed of in the last ten days.

In addition to bringing about improvement in the legal system, recommendations have been formulated and sent to the stakeholders to elicit their opinion. These reforms are likely to be introduced later this month. The Pakistan Computer Bureau has developed a website for the office of Federal Ombudsman for the benefit of complainants.

Most complaints pertain to delay in issuance of passports, national identity cards (NIC) and faulty utility bills.

The quick disposal of complaints is providing speedy justice and is helping in reducing the burden on the judiciary. The practice is also enhancing the confidence of the people in the institution, the sources viewed.

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