SHC puts president on notice
Petition filed by Rasheed A Akhund named as respondents the president of Pakistan and the chairman NAB.
KARACHI:
A division bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) put on Thursday all respondents on notice while hearing a petition challenging the appointment of Justice (retd) Deedar Hussain Shah as the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The petition was filed by Rasheed A Akhund, a senior lawyer of the city, who named as respondents the president of Pakistan by name, the secretary and minister of law and parliamentary affairs, and the chairman NAB. The bench comprises Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Shahid Anwar Bajwa.
The petitioner maintains that the appointment of Justice (retd) Deedar is patently illegal and unlawful. He submitted that the respondent chairman was liable to a writ of quo warranto under Article 199 (i) (b) (ii) of the Constitution of Pakistan and to show under what law he claims to hold this office as it is a public one.
Roughly put, writ of quo warranto is a legal proceeding during which an individual’s right to hold an office or governmental privilege is challenged.
The petitioner relied upon a statement made by the prime minister, referring to something the president said to the effect that the appointing authority had not sought the PM’s advice before appointing the respondent Justice (retd) Deedar.
The petitioner alleges that “the law minister is giving misleading and illegal advice to the president even to extent of flouting the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan”.
Besides seeking the declaration that the appointment was illegal, the petitioner has also sought a permanent injunction, restraining Justice (retd) Deedar from exercising any powers as the head of NAB.
He asked the court to declare the appointment unlawful and void for being in violation of Article 48 of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973.
The bench had earlier heard the petitioner who appeared in person and said that the point he raised that section 6 of the NAB ordinance and Article 48 of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973 contradicted each other, requires consideration.
The bench also appointed the former law minister Barrister Khalid Anwer and former Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan as Amicus Curiae to assist the court on this question of law.
Besides the above cited respondents, the bench also put the Attorney General on notice for Oct 21, fixing the hearing’s time as well and ordering that the petition will be heard at 11 am just after the tea break.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2010.
A division bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) put on Thursday all respondents on notice while hearing a petition challenging the appointment of Justice (retd) Deedar Hussain Shah as the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The petition was filed by Rasheed A Akhund, a senior lawyer of the city, who named as respondents the president of Pakistan by name, the secretary and minister of law and parliamentary affairs, and the chairman NAB. The bench comprises Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Shahid Anwar Bajwa.
The petitioner maintains that the appointment of Justice (retd) Deedar is patently illegal and unlawful. He submitted that the respondent chairman was liable to a writ of quo warranto under Article 199 (i) (b) (ii) of the Constitution of Pakistan and to show under what law he claims to hold this office as it is a public one.
Roughly put, writ of quo warranto is a legal proceeding during which an individual’s right to hold an office or governmental privilege is challenged.
The petitioner relied upon a statement made by the prime minister, referring to something the president said to the effect that the appointing authority had not sought the PM’s advice before appointing the respondent Justice (retd) Deedar.
The petitioner alleges that “the law minister is giving misleading and illegal advice to the president even to extent of flouting the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan”.
Besides seeking the declaration that the appointment was illegal, the petitioner has also sought a permanent injunction, restraining Justice (retd) Deedar from exercising any powers as the head of NAB.
He asked the court to declare the appointment unlawful and void for being in violation of Article 48 of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973.
The bench had earlier heard the petitioner who appeared in person and said that the point he raised that section 6 of the NAB ordinance and Article 48 of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973 contradicted each other, requires consideration.
The bench also appointed the former law minister Barrister Khalid Anwer and former Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan as Amicus Curiae to assist the court on this question of law.
Besides the above cited respondents, the bench also put the Attorney General on notice for Oct 21, fixing the hearing’s time as well and ordering that the petition will be heard at 11 am just after the tea break.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2010.