Private company moves court against non-payment of dues by the civic body. PHOTO: FILE
The hearing of a financial case involving the Capital Development Authority (CDA) on Wednesday quickly turned into a quiz on the number of dual nationals working for the civic agency.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui sought the details of the dual nationals during the hearing of a contempt application filed by a private construction company against the CDA for failing to pay its dues.
The company claims that the CDA had not made payment for a contracted project, it completed. The company’s counsel added that the civic body had defied court orders to release payments amounting to Rs1.9 million in 2012.
While he was countering the petitioner’s version, CDA Deputy Director Ashfaq Memon was stopped in his tracks by Justice Siddiqui, who oddly questioned Memon’s status as a dual national of Pakistan and Canada. Memon responded that he was a Canadian immigrant, not a national.
Justice Siddiqui then ordered the CDA to furnish the records of all its dual national employees to the court in a week.
Later, The Express Tribune spoke to the CDA’s Chief Legal Adviser Barrister Masroor Shah to obtain clarification on the court’s order. Shah said that although there is no law in place regarding dual nationals to work for the CDA, the court was well within its right to take suo motu notice and query government officials on the matter.
“The CDA will definitely comply with the court order and submit records of such employees,” he said.
Barrister Umar Afzal echoed Shah’s sentiments, citing the Civil Service Rules 1973, which say that candidates for appointment to positions in the bureaucracy must be Pakistani citizens.
Political appointments
In a separate case, Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan of the IHC issued notices to the secretaries of finance, communication, information and establishment division in response to a petition seeking the prohibition of political appointments in state-run organisations by future governments.
The petitioner, Advocate Faisal Iqbal Khan, claimed that the Pakistan People’s Party government had made political appointments in state-owned institutions which led to corruption charges amounting to Rs1.8 trillion.
Khan requested the court to order the furnishing of a complete list of all individuals responsible for political appointments which, he claimed, were not transparent and in violation of merit and guidelines laid down by the superior courts.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 16th, 2013.
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