IHC removes NACTA Head
IHC removed the head of National Counter-terrorism Authority (NACTA)
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Islamabad High Court (IHC) removed the head of National Counter-terrorism Authority (NACTA), Khawaja Muhammad Ashraf from his office on Wednesday, Dunya News reported. The court declared all the decisions taken by Ashraf during his term as void. Also, the command of NACTA was ordered to be brought under to PM Nawaz Sharif.
Interior Ministry had earlier dismissed six employees of NACTA who filed a petition against NACTA head. The court has also ordered restoration of the six employees.
Ashraf Khwaja was appointed as national coordinator by the government on January 3 earlier this year.
NACTA was formed in 2009 but remained dormant due to lack of resources. Last year, the government had introduced the Nacta Act in order to strengthen its efforts for countering terrorism. Under the NACTA Act 2013, the PM became the chairman of the NACTA board which falls under the administrative control of interior. Various stakeholders recommended the services of NACTA to be placed under National Security Division (NSD) since the government re-immersed the cabinet committee on national security after changing its composition and tasked with the formulation of a new national security policy. The PM and Interior Minister too were not happy with the performance of NACTA. According to media reports, NACTA, the country’s top counter-terrorism authority spent around Rs 850 million in counterinsurgency efforts to battle violence and extremism but ended up producing only a brief documentary and a couple of research papers since being established five years ago.
