ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research has summoned top two ex-directors and one in-service director of the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) and inquiry officers to its upcoming meeting on September 25, with a focus on the controversial appointment of the customs officer as Plant Protection Adviser & Director General of DPP (PPA&DG) and discriminatory inquiries, illegal, biased and victimized actions against senior directors of the department.
According to the agenda issued by the Senate Secretariat, the committee will first review a compliance report on whether Mr. Tahir Abbas, Custom officer of BS-19 has been appointed on technical post of BS-20 of the PPA&DG in the DPP in line with the requisite qualification and experience laid down in departmental rules. Lawmakers had repeatedly raised concerns that the position was being filled without merit, undermining the technical capacity and integrity of the department tasked with protecting Pakistan’s domestic agriculture, natural resources, environment, biosecurity, food security and food safety.
The committee has also called for a progress report on inquiries into three former senior officials of the DPP, Dr. Muhammad Tariq Khan, ex-PPA&DG, Mr. Allah Dita Abid, ex-PPA&DG and ex-Director (Technical), Muhammad Sohail Shahzad, whose cases involve serious questions of fair governance, victimization, discrimination, natural justice and transparency. Inquiry officers, along with the suspended officials themselves, have been directed to appear before the committee to explain their stance so that the committee can determine elements of victimization, favouritism, abuse of powers.
Out of 50 accused officials including Secretaries, Additional Secretaries Plan, Joint Secretaries Plan, Deputy Secretaries Plan, Section Officers Plan of MNFS&R, Director Director General, DPP, Director P&D, DPP and Director Quarantine DPP from 2005 to December 2024 reported by the inquiry committee led by Mr. Shahid Khan, former Secy Interior including Waseem Ajmal Chaudhry, Secy, Dr. Syed Bilal Haider, Joint Secretary, Admin, MNFS&R, Waseem Ajmald Chaudhry awarded penalty of withdrawal of increament and promotion for three years to Mr. Allah Ditta Abid, former DG, DPP in 2021 for few months and 2023 for one year and withdrawal of promotion for three year to Mr. Sohail Shahzad, former Director Technical DPP despite no DG and Secretary has assigned him CPQL functionalization instead, this duty was assigned to Mr. Shahid Abdullah, Director Planning and Development in the DPP but no action was taken against 46 accused officers.
Likewise Ameer Mohyuddin, Secretary MNFS&R awarded minor penalty to Mr. Tariq Khan on failure of functionalization of CPQL illegally and contrary to principles of natural justice and fair trial because he himself is accused of failure for operationalization in CPQL as Additional Secretary Planning in the MNFS&R as per fact finding inquiry report and former Secretary, Waseem Ajmal Chaudhry had recommended his demotion from Additional Secretary to Joint Secretary. Rashid Mehmood Langrial, chairman FBR has also been declared key accused in inquiry report for failure to operationalize the CQPL lab as former Additional Secretary, MNFS&R but he was not only promoted from BS-21 to BS-22 despite this inquiry findings but also made chairman FBR being blued eyed of the prime minister.
Similarly, wheat summary was moved by Capt. Retd. Muhammad Mehmood in October 2023 for allowing private sector to import 1.4 million tons of wheat without regulatory duty and one million tons to TCP. He later proposed to caretaker federal government that all wheat should be imported through private sector. Dr. Kausar Abdullah Malik, former caretaker federal Minister MNFS&R allowed import of 16 wheat vessel on 23 February 2024 and Muhammad Aurangzaib, present finance minister allowed import of one wheat vessel on 24 March 2024 on behalf of present prime minister which constituted 1.6 million extra wheat import in Pakistan. Ameer Mohyuddin, secy on one side gave approval of phytosanitary import conditions of soybean on 29-11-2024 and awarded dismissal from service to Mr. Sohail Shahzad, BS-19 on show cause notice illegally without any inquiry under pressure from Syed Bilal Haider and Tahir Abbas and Federal Minister.
Another long-standing issue on the agenda is the availability of aircraft for aerial spray operations against locusts and other threats to crops. The DPP has been asked to provide an updated inventory, amid fears that inadequate preparedness could expose the country to fresh agricultural crises.
Beyond the DPP-related matters, the committee will also deliberate on the National Agri-Trade and Food Safety Authority Ordinance, 2025, which aims to establish a new regulatory body for food safety and agri-trade. Heads of exporters’ and importers’ associations have been invited to share their views, as stakeholders have expressed both optimism and skepticism about the new law’s potential impact on trade.
The committee will further examine the inquiry commission’s findings on the controversial wheat imports of 2023–24, which led to surplus stocks, financial losses, and strong backlash from growers. Lawmakers had earlier alleged that policy lapses and mismanagement fueled the crisis, and the commission’s report is expected to bring more clarity to the issue.
Additionally, the Chairman of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) has been tasked with briefing senators on the role and performance of PARC’s subsidiary, Agrotech Company (PATCO), over the past five years.
Observers believe this meeting could prove pivotal, as it ties together long-standing concerns over bureaucratic lapses in the DPP, governance failures in wheat imports, and the future of Pakistan’s food security framework. The session, to be chaired by Senator Syed Masroor Ahsan, is likely to feature tough questioning of ministry officials and regulators amid growing pressure for accountability.
