IHC dismisses case over CDA deputations

CJ Minallah questions why someone had filed multiple cases against the authority

ISLAMABAD:

A petition filed against the deputation officers in the apex civic authority of the federal capital was dismissed on Thursday after the court termed it as unmaintainable.

These directions were issued on Thursday by a single-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah, as it heard a petition moved by Farrukh Nawaz Bhatti challenging the appointments in the Capital Development Authority (CDA) on deputation.

At the outset of the hearing, Chief Justice Minallah expressed his annoyance with the petitioner, asking how many petitions filed by Bhatti against the CDA were pending with his bench.

To this, the petitioner's counsel said that his client was a journalist. At this, CJ Minallah remarked that then the petitioner should have used his forum for such matters. The court observed that around a dozen petitions filed by Bhatti were already pending with this bench.

CJ Minallah remarked that per Bhatti’s stated profession, his job is to give news in the media instead of lodging cases in courts.

Further, he questioned what interest Bhatti have in filing cases against CDA's deputation officers.

Asking the petitioner’s counsel why the court should hear such a case, CJ Minallah remarked that the court requires the assistance of lawyers and the bar to dispose of pending cases. The court maintained that the matter of appointments and postings were the affairs of the executive and that the court could not interfere in it.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2020.