Pemra chief reinstatement: Govt plea seeking court order suspension dismissed

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday dismissed government’s application seeking suspension of its earlier decision to reinstate Chaudhry Rashid Ahmed as the chairman of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra).

Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi dismissed the application after hearing both the parties.

On Tuesday — a day after Ahmed’s reinstatement — additional attorney-general (AAG) Afnan Karim Kundi filed an application challenging the court’s decision.

Subsequently, the court had issued a notice to Ahmed for May 27.

When the case was taken up on Wednesday, Ahmed’s counsel, Idrees Ashraf, informed the court that his client has reassumed office following the court order.

Raising an objection on Ahmed joining office, the AAG said that his appointment was neither open nor transparent. Kundi added that while Ahmed was the information secretary, he had initiated a summary proposing himself as a candidate for the Pemra top slot, which is an appointment without merit.

He expressed surprise over his immediate joining of office, saying Ahmed did so before the government could get a written order and issue the relevant notification.

Justice Qureshi remarked that the Pemra chairman did not need a notification from the government following court orders, adding that he had filed application for reinstatement, which was accepted.

Justice Qureshi asked how the court could hear an application seeking suspension of an order when the Pemra chairman had not filed any application for the implementation of the court order.

At this point, Kundi requested the court to suspend its earlier order to reinstate the Pemra chairman till the government files an intra-court appeal against the decision.

The court, however, dismissed the application.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28^th, 2015.