New PTV MD: Yousaf Baig out, Mustafa Kamal in

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday suspended the appointment of the managing director of state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) and replaced him with a PTV director for an interim period. The suspension order for Yousaf Baig Mirza was passed by IHC Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui in response to a petition filed by a former PTV MD who had challenged his removal. PTV Director Engineering Mustafa Kamal has been appointed as the MD on acting charge basis. Mirza was appointed in 2009 on contract. On April 8, the IHC had summoned him in person after PTV’s counsel informed that he was not appointed through a competitive process. During Friday’s proceedings, Advocate Naeem Bokhari maintained that the PM is the appointing authority and argued that since the establishment of PTV, all MDs were directly appointed by the prime minister.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2013.