Appointment: LHC issues notices to chief secretary, EPA head

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday issued notices to the chief secretary and director general of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) on a petition challenging the appointment of the latter.

On a petition filed by Zubair Niazi, Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah directed the officials to submit their replies by September 19. Advocate Sheraz Zaka, counsel for Niazi, submitted that Dr Javed Iqbal had been appointed the EPA director general in violation of service rules. According to the service rules, he said, either an EPA director should be promoted to director general’s rank or the director general should be recruited through the Punjab Public Service Commission. He said that Iqbal had been transferred to the EPA from the Housing Department therefore his appointment was illegal. He had been working as technical adviser to the Housing Department before his appointment as EPA director general. Niazi’s counsel said that an enquiry had been pending with the National NAB against Iqbal.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2016.