Secretary given 15 days to justify SECP chief appointment

A broker cannot head the regulatory body, says petitioner.

ISLAMABAD:

In a bid to resolve a case of controversial appointment that has been lingering for a year now, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the finance secretary to submit a reply in 15 days, justifying the appointment of the incumbent chairman Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Muhammad Ali.

The incumbent’s appointment was challenged by an Islamabad-based lawyer, Muhammad Ashraf Tiwana, on grounds that a former broker cannot head the regulatory commission without being biased.

The petitioner held that appointment of members of stock and commodity exchanges, brokers, directors and shareholders of brokerage companies as SECP chairman is against the law.

When a three-member bench of the apex court, presided by Justice Shakirullah Jan, resumed hearing on Thursday, Secretary Finance Abdul Wajid Rana was absent despite court’s notice.

The court summoned Rana on a short notice and he tendered an apology before the bench, saying he assumed his charge last week and was not aware of the development.

The bench said the issue has been lingering on for over a year and asked Rana to submit his reply within 15 days for the court to resolve the controversy.

A parliamentary panel had also raised objection on the appointment of the new chairman in January last year.

Some clauses of the SECP Act should be struck down for being beyond the legal jurisdiction of Articles 73 and 75 of the Constitution, the petitioner said. He also requested the bench to direct the government to introduce necessary amendments in the SECP Act to prohibit the appointment of individuals with conflict of interest as chairman SECP in the future.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2012.