Headless institutions : Govt urges SC to revisit its ruling

Says decision in Khawaja Asif’s case is harming justice.

ISLAMABAD:

The federal government has told the Supreme Court that its June 12, 2013 ruling in Khawaja Asif’s case is causing gross miscarriage of justice and is also a violation of the Constitution.

On September 24, a five-member bench of the apex court is taking up the federal government’s plea to revisit its judgment regarding the formation of commission with regard to the appointment of heads of various statutory bodies, autonomous and regulatory bodies.

Deputy Attorney General Sajid Ilyas Bhatti has moved a fresh application with additional grounds for revisiting the paragraphs 26 and 27 of judgment, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune.

In its fresh plea, the government has also expressed apprehension that any recommendation made by the commission with regard to any appointment is bound to erode the authority of the prime minister and cabinet.

“The president acts on the advice of the prime minister and his cabinet. It appears in the light of the observations made in paragraphs 26 and 27, now that legal authority has been vested in a commission and its recommendations are being made binding upon the premier. This is contrary to the scheme of the Constitution and the parliamentary form of the government,” says the application.

The government pointed out that the judgment has become the source of injustice and violation of the Constitution and several other laws besides creating a perception of an ineffective administration considered responsible for delaying appointments in key organs.

It also said that the government approached the court by filing a concise statement but it stopped short of making a formal prayer for reconsideration of the judgment in the belief that once those significant anomalies were brought to the court’s notice it may invoke its inherent jurisdiction to revisit/ reconsider the judgment.

The court has previously revisited its own judgments, when it noticed that such judgments were causing gross miscarriage of justice or the same were contrary to any provision of the Constitution or law, argues the government’s application. “Only very recently, the top court reviewed the judgment in judges’ pension case.”

Though the decision was hailed as a victory then, the PML-N government has now sought a revisit on the judgment.

In its June 12, 2013 verdict, the court had ordered the constitution of a three-member commission comprising competent and independent members with impeccable integrity for the appointment of heads of government offices.

The court had observed that it was the fundamental right of a citizen under Article 9 of the Constitution that the national wealth and resources must remain fully protected whether under the control of banks or autonomous and semi-autonomous organisations. The commission should be mandated to ensure that all public sector appointments were made solely on merit.

Vacant government offices

Chief Election Commissioner, chairmen of FST, Export Processing Zone Authority, Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Karachi Port Trust, Vocational and Technical Training Commission, Services Tribunal, Employees Review Board, Implementation of Tribunal of Newspaper Employees, Intellectual Property Rights Organisation, Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Pakistan Council of Research and Water Resources, Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority, National Institute of Oceanography, National Trust Population Welfare, Council of Works and Housing Research and Science Foundation and director general of Pakistan Institute of Management, chief executive of Pakistan National Council of Arts, managing directors of Associated Press of Pakistan and National Trust for Disabled and director general of National Institute of Electronics.