ISLAMABAD:
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended on Tuesday a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) order declaring the appointments of two deputy chairpersons in the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) illegal.
On December 13, the parliamentary watchdog stated that the new appointments were illegal, and directed the government to remove both men from their posts immediately. After one of the deputy chairmen, Naveed Jan, challenged the committee order in the IHC, Justice Riaz Ahmed granted a stay.
The court also issued notices to PAC Chairperson Nadeem Afzal Chan, NADRA Chairperson Tariq Malik, and Interior Secretary Khawaja Siddique Akbar and sought their reply.
Jan’s attorney Nayab Hassan Gardezi argued that the PAC has no powers to declare the appointments of a deputy chairperson illegal. He informed the court that according to NADRA rules, the deputy chairmen were performing their duties satisfactorily and were appointed by the interior ministry.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik had appointed Dr Tahir Ikram as deputy chairperson in June this year while Jan was appointed the human resources deputy chairperson a month later.
The PAC acted in response to a decision of the NADRA board that had unanimously decided that the interior ministry did not have any authority to appoint deputy chairpersons to the body. The committee upheld the decision of the board and ordered the government to de-notify them within one week.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2012.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ