Not fair: Promotions of 213 NHA officials suspended

Minister for Communication had passed the orders on March 1.

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday suspended promotion orders of 213 officials, of the National Highway Authority (NHA), to BPS 19 and BPS 20.

Minister for Communication Dr Arbab Alamgir on March 1 had passed the orders.

While entertaining a petition filed by eight employees of the NHA, IHC Judge Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan suspended the order and sought replies from Communication Ministry, Chairman NHA Hamid Ali Khan and Secretary Communications in first week of April.



Advocate Raja Amir Abbas Hassan, the counsel for the petitioners, said that the NHA is a statutory body working under NHA Act 1991.

He said that Alamgir promoted his blue-eyed officials while violating the NHA rules.

Hassan maintained that the 213 promoted officials were junior to his clients and the minister had wrongly interpreted the decision of the cabinet’s sub committee on promotions in the NHA and other departments.

He said that their promotion has no link with the cases of regularisation of the employees. After hearing the argument, the court suspended the orders and adjourned the case till the first week of April.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16^th, 2013.