Violation of court orders: Sorry isn’t enough, court tells top city managers
Officials met with Sakhi Butt despite being restrained by the IHC from meeting him.
ISLAMABAD:
An apology tendered by top city managers for meeting Faisal Sakhi Butt in violation of court orders was rejected by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday.
Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the IHC rejected the unconditional apology from Capital Development Authority (CDA) Planning Director General Ghulam Sarwar Sindhu, Municipal Administration Director Mansoor Ali Khan, Coordination Director Riaz Randhawa and Administration Director Hussain Raza Zaidi and directed them to submit written statements before the court on July 3.
On May 14, the court had barred Butt, then chairman of the prime minister’s task force on CDA, from entering the authority’s offices and also directed the civic body’s officials not to interact with him in their official capacities.
On June 20, the same bench issued show-cause notices to the officials after media reports surfaced that they had met with Butt and assured him of their support.
During the course of hearing on Tuesday, the accused quartet’s counsel, Advocate Raja Amir, admitted that the officials had met with Butt. He said they had met in their “personal” capacity to inform Butt not to interfere in CDA affairs. He added that the CDA also issued a clarification that was published on June 26. He requested the court to accept their unconditional apology.
Justice Siddiqui, unsatisfied with the fact that the clarification was issued only after a show-cause notice was issued, inferred that the officials’ actions indicated that they do not take the court’s orders seriously. He gave the officials until July 3 to submit their replies.
NAB head issued notice
In another hearing on Tuesday, the IHC issued preadmission notices to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairperson, Fasih Bokhari, and human resources (HR) director general, Kausar Iqbal Malik, for alleged appointments in violations of NAB rules.
The petition, filed by 14 senior NAB officials, said that the appointments have been made in the past few months. Advocate Raja Amir, the counsel for the petitioners, said that NAB had inducted Khursheed Anwar Bhinder as Punjab director general and Kausar Iqbal Malik as HR director general.
Moreover, NAB is in the process of appointing Wajid Ali Durrani, a retired police officer, as another director general on the recommendation of President Asif Ali Zardari, Amir said.
He said the appointments are in violation of predefined and allocated quotas for initial appointments and promotion. He requested the court to direct NAB to immediately convene a selection board for promotions from BPS-20 to 21 and declare all appointments violating NAB rules illegal.
The court gave Bokhari and Malik two weeks to respond to the allegations.
Published In The Express Tribune, June 27th, 2012.
An apology tendered by top city managers for meeting Faisal Sakhi Butt in violation of court orders was rejected by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday.
Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the IHC rejected the unconditional apology from Capital Development Authority (CDA) Planning Director General Ghulam Sarwar Sindhu, Municipal Administration Director Mansoor Ali Khan, Coordination Director Riaz Randhawa and Administration Director Hussain Raza Zaidi and directed them to submit written statements before the court on July 3.
On May 14, the court had barred Butt, then chairman of the prime minister’s task force on CDA, from entering the authority’s offices and also directed the civic body’s officials not to interact with him in their official capacities.
On June 20, the same bench issued show-cause notices to the officials after media reports surfaced that they had met with Butt and assured him of their support.
During the course of hearing on Tuesday, the accused quartet’s counsel, Advocate Raja Amir, admitted that the officials had met with Butt. He said they had met in their “personal” capacity to inform Butt not to interfere in CDA affairs. He added that the CDA also issued a clarification that was published on June 26. He requested the court to accept their unconditional apology.
Justice Siddiqui, unsatisfied with the fact that the clarification was issued only after a show-cause notice was issued, inferred that the officials’ actions indicated that they do not take the court’s orders seriously. He gave the officials until July 3 to submit their replies.
NAB head issued notice
In another hearing on Tuesday, the IHC issued preadmission notices to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairperson, Fasih Bokhari, and human resources (HR) director general, Kausar Iqbal Malik, for alleged appointments in violations of NAB rules.
The petition, filed by 14 senior NAB officials, said that the appointments have been made in the past few months. Advocate Raja Amir, the counsel for the petitioners, said that NAB had inducted Khursheed Anwar Bhinder as Punjab director general and Kausar Iqbal Malik as HR director general.
Moreover, NAB is in the process of appointing Wajid Ali Durrani, a retired police officer, as another director general on the recommendation of President Asif Ali Zardari, Amir said.
He said the appointments are in violation of predefined and allocated quotas for initial appointments and promotion. He requested the court to direct NAB to immediately convene a selection board for promotions from BPS-20 to 21 and declare all appointments violating NAB rules illegal.
The court gave Bokhari and Malik two weeks to respond to the allegations.
Published In The Express Tribune, June 27th, 2012.