ISLAMABAD: The federal government has constituted a three-member committee to negotiate with the opposition and draft legislation for the extension in the army chief’s tenure.
The committee, comprising Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Defense Minister Pervaiz Khattak, and Minister for Planning Asad Omar, will also debate the new legislation in the parliament.
“We will introduce constitutional reforms with the help of the opposition,” Khattak said while talking to media in Peshawar on Sunday.
The Supreme Court suspended the government’s notification of August 19 that gave a three-year tenure extension to army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, citing procedural flaws on November 26.
The court gave a temporary six-month extension to the retiring army chief whose tenure ended on November 28, instructing the government to draft the requisite legislation within this period.
Pakistan’s civilian governments have granted extension in service to only two army chiefs – General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and General Qamar Javed Bajwa – for their ‘meritorious services’ and this instilled a new strength in the force for their popularity in the rank and file, defense analysts said on Sunday.
Gen. Kayani was granted a three year service extension in 2010 after completion of his initial three year term in the office by the then Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in a bid to continue military operations against militants in the country’s tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. He retired in November 2013 after completion of six years in the office.
Prime Minister Imran Khan granted three year service extension to Gen Bajwa for “regional security environment,” but it didn’t go as smooth after the apex court took suo moto notice of the action.
“This is for the first time that service extension to an army chief has been thoroughly discussed in the apex court, and this will hopefully plug legal loopholes now after the legislation,” Lt General (retd.) Amjad Shoaib told Arab News.
Giving a background to the matter, he said that President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto constituted a high-powered committee after 1971 war with India to reorganize the command structure of the armed forces including the army, navy and air force.
“The committee had fixed the services chief’s tenure to three years and corps commanders to four years,” Gen Shoaib said, “this has been followed religiously up till now, though no written rules exist for it.”
About reaction in the army on extension in service, he said that a couple of ‘senior most generals’ aspiring to be the next army chief might feel bad, but “as per tradition and discipline of the force, they never express their feelings openly.”
“The strength of this army is discipline and loyalty to the command. This is unwritten and the whole training of the army revolves around this motto,” he said.
Pakistan army’s first native commander-in-chief General Ayub Khan remained in the office from 1951 to 1958. General Zia-ul-Haq (1976-1988) and General Pervez Musharraf (1998-2007) remained as the army chief’s for twelve and nine years respectively but, being the martial law administrators, had extended their tenures in the office themselves.
Concurring with General Amjad Shoiab, Dr. Hasan Askari Rizvi, a renowned political scientist and defense analyst, said the army chief’s service extension would augur well for both the institution and the country.
“Both the government and the opposition parties are willing to extend the army chief’s tenure, and a legislation regarding it will have a smooth sailing in the parliament,” he told Arab News.
Government forms three-member committee for army chief's tenure legislation
Government forms three-member committee for army chief's tenure legislation
- Supreme Court gave the government six months to draft legislation for extension in an army chief’s tenure
- Army chief’s service extension would augur well for both the military and the country, defense analyst says
Two Pakistani men indicted in $10 million Medicare fraud scheme in Chicago
- Prosecutors say defendants billed Medicare and private insurers for nonexistent services
- Authorities say millions of dollars in proceeds were laundered and transferred to Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Two Pakistani nationals have been indicted in Chicago for allegedly participating in a $10 million health care fraud scheme that targeted Medicare and private insurers, the US Justice Department said on Thursday.
A federal grand jury charged Burhan Mirza, 31, who resided in Pakistan, and Kashif Iqbal, 48, who lived in Texas, with submitting fraudulent claims for medical services and equipment that were never provided, according to an indictment filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Medicare is the US federal health insurance program primarily serving Americans aged 65 and older, as well as certain younger people with disabilities.
“Rooting out fraud is a priority for this Justice Department, and these defendants allegedly billed millions of dollars from Medicare and laundered the proceeds to Pakistan,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.
“These alleged criminals stole from a program designed to provide health care benefits to American seniors and the disabled, not line the pockets of foreign fraudsters,” he added. “We will not tolerate these schemes that divert taxpayer dollars to criminals.”
Prosecutors said that in 2023 and 2024, the defendants and their alleged co-conspirators used nominee-owned laboratories and durable medical equipment providers to bill Medicare and private health benefit programs for nonexistent services.
According to the indictment, Mirza obtained identifying information of individuals, providers and insurers without their knowledge and used it to support fraudulent claims submitted on behalf of shell companies. Iqbal was allegedly linked to several durable medical equipment providers that filed false claims and is accused of laundering proceeds and coordinating transfers of funds to Pakistan.
Mirza faces 12 counts of health care fraud and five counts of money laundering. Iqbal is charged with 12 counts of health care fraud, six counts of money laundering and one count of making a false statement to US law enforcement. Arraignments have not yet been scheduled.
Three additional defendants, including an Indian, previously charged in the investigation, have pleaded guilty to federal health care fraud charges and are awaiting sentencing.
An indictment contains allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
