Now that Independence Day 2025 has passed and the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) postponed the Excellence Awards 2023—meant for engineers with outstanding performance—Chairman Engr. Waseem Nazir once again demonstrated his tendency to trample the decisions of the Governing Body, the supreme body of the institution. His uninterrupted violation of the laws was this time pointed out by Engr. Prof. Dr. Suhail Aftab Qureshi, Vice Chairman Punjab.
Engr. Qureshi, in writing to the members of the Governing Body and raising objection to the Notification of Engineer’s Excellence Award 2023, noted that Dr. Nasir Mehmood Khan, the former Registrar of the Council, has been recommended for the PEC Engineer’s Excellence Award 2023.
His letter reads:
I am writing to express serious concerns regarding PEC’s recently issued notification Ref: PEC/EXC_AW_2023/020 dated 30 July 2025, wherein Dr. Nasir Mehmood Khan has been recommended for the PEC Engineer’s Excellence Award 2023, scheduled for presentation on 14 August 2025, with the note that he was Member/Secretary of the Excellence Award Committee.
It is important to bring to your attention that the Ministry of Science and Technology, through Order No. 1(1)/2018-Misc (Org-I) dated 31 July 2024, has already declared Dr. Nasir’s appointment and subsequent promotion in PEC as illegal. Following this, he was placed under inquiry and sent on forced sick leave, and the Governing Body of PEC also issued a decision recommending his termination.
Despite these established facts and directions from the Ministry and GB, the recommendation for an award to Dr. Nasir appears to be in direct violation of institutional integrity and governance protocols. This situation raises several alarming questions:
Why has the Registrar, being the legal custodian of PEC’s records and governance, facilitated this recommendation when an official ministry order and GB decision exist against Dr. Nasir?
How can an individual with proven misconduct and violations be considered for an award of excellence, which is intended to reflect merit, ethics, and service?
It has come to my notice that this award nomination was influenced by Mr. Khadim Hussain Bhatti, reportedly on the direction of the Chairman, which further raises concerns of procedural manipulation and favoritism.
In view of the above:
I strongly urge that this decision be reviewed immediately,
The notification must be withdrawn,
And necessary action be taken in accordance with the Ministry’s directive and the GB verdict.
Awarding such an individual will not only tarnish the credibility of PEC but also demoralize genuinely deserving professionals across Pakistan.
Thank you for your attention to this critical matter. I trust that PEC will uphold transparency, merit, and the rule of law in all its affairs.
Engr. Qureshi’s letter is not the first of its kind. Before him, Senior Vice Chairman of the Council, Dr. Sarosh Lodhi, had written to the Chairman and warned him against decisions that violated the Act and Bye-laws of the Council.
The Senior Vice Chairman accused Chairman Engr. Waseem Nazir of consistently violating the PEC Act and Bye-laws through unilateral and unauthorized decisions. In a strongly worded letter, the Vice Chairman warned the Chairman that his latest office order dated 28 June 2025—involving the appointment of several officers in the PEC Secretariat—was illegal and issued without the approval of the Governing Body.
According to the letter, this action breaches Clauses 3(A)(1) and 9(1) of the PEC Act 1976 (as amended), and Clause 49 of the PEC Bye-laws 1976, all of which vest executive powers in the Governing Body, not the Chairman alone. The letter further alleges that newly created posts such as Technical Advisor (Operations) and Technical Advisor (Regulation) do not exist within PEC’s legal framework. The Vice Chairman also accused the Chairman of withholding key information from the Governing Body, entering secret agreements, and overriding the 52nd Governing Body meeting. The letter ends with a stern warning to halt these “blatant violations” and avoid further institutional and legal disaster for PEC
