Illegal appointment: Court orders removal of EPA director

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has declared the appointment of Environment Protection Agency (EPA) director-general illegal and ordered the Punjab government to fill the post on merit.

Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah passed the order on Wednesday on a petition seeking the removal of the EPA chief.

The petitioner’s counsel contended the appointment of Dr Javed Iqbal was against the services rules as the director-general must have passed the exam of civil services or provincial management services. Javed, he alleged, did not fulfil this criteria as he lacked experience and was previously a technical adviser in the housing department.

After hearing the arguments at length, the chief justice accepted the petition and declared that fresh appointment should be made in accordance with the criteria for the post.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27^th, 2016.