CB withdraws order against PIA sell-off

The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday withdrew its order halting the privatisation of PIA, expressing confidence that the sale process would proceed transparently.

The six-member bench, led by Justice Aminuddin Khan heard various cases and disposed of the matter of a dispute between the Lahore High Court and the Ombudsman and a petition regarding an information technology (IT) university.

The constitutional bench disposed of the case by withdrawing the order to stop the PIA privatisation. Additional Attorney General (AAG) Amir Rehman presented his arguments on the matter.

The AAG said that the Supreme Court had allowed the PIA administration to employ new professionals, but the recruitments were not made due to the privatisation process started by the government.

He stated that the European Union ban on PIA flight operations had been lifted, and the privatisation process for the national flag carrier would be resumed. Justice Aminuddin Khan expressed hope that PIA would secure a higher bid in the re-privatisation process.

Justice Jamal Mandokhail observed that the Supreme Court had ordered that the privatisation be done by taking the court into confidence. He asked whether the government was violating the order by carrying out the privatisation process.

The AAG replied that an application had been filed in the court to take it into confidence on the privatisation process. Justice Mandokhel said that the court gave its confidence that the privatisation would be done in a transparent manner.

Meanwhile, the bench also disposed of the contempt of court case against Justice Mansoor Ali Shah. The AAG informed the bench that the Federal Ombudsman had withdrawn the contempt of court notice.

He said that the ombudsman had issued the contempt notice to Justice Shah when he was an LHC judge. The bench disposed of both the contempt of court notice and the suo motu notice taken on the matter.

In another case, the bench, while disposing of a petition regarding the establishment of an IT University in Islamabad, ordered for the return of the investment money to the petitioner.

Petitioner's lawyer Salman Aslam Butt told the bench that if this situation continued, investment from foreign countries would end. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said that foreign investment was coming in the past and it would continue in the future.

During the proceedings, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, while talking to the petitioner's lawyer, said that the petitioner was not planning to provide free education. He added that education had become a business in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, a three-member regular bench, led by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, referred the matter of regularisation of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Health Department employees to the provincial cabinet to take a decision within three months.