Allegations: Petition ready against civil aviation boss

Petitioner claims CAA head ‘not qualified’ for the job.

ISLAMABAD:

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) may face more embarrassment next week when a constitutional petition seeking the removal of its new director general (DG) is filed in the Supreme Court (SC).

Petitioner, senior advocate Asif Fasihuddin Vardag, said that the appointment of Air Marshal (retd) Muhammad Yousaf as the new head of the CAA was made in a non-transparent and unlawful manner.

“I will file a petition to challenge his appointment which was made against the rules and regulations of the CAA,” he added.

Yousaf was appointed DG CAA last month when his predecessor Air Marshal (retd) Khalid Chaudhry was sacked following a directive by the apex court. The court directive came in September on a petition filed by Vardag against the massive financial and administrative corruption in the under-construction New Benazir Bhutto International Airport project in Rawalpindi

When contacted by The Express Tribune, Yousaf declined to comment on this reported unlawful appointment. His assistant, who identified himself as squadron leader Javed, said his boss could not attend telephone calls as he was in a meeting. The public relations officer of the CAA is also in the meeting with the DG CAA, Javed claimed. He said that the PRO would respond with a comment, but he failed to do so.

About his upcoming petition which Vardag said will be filed next week, he maintains that the new DG CAA was not qualified to be appointed for the job. The relevant rules demand that the person has the capability of ‘pilot-in-command’ who should also have the know-how regarding engineering of aviation. Yousaf had served as a pilot in the PAF but has no training or experience of engineering. The appointment is also against the rules of the Pakistan Engineering Council.

The rules also demand that the appointment of the DG CAA should be made after a selection by a federal government-appointed special committee. The government did not ask for the application by the candidates for the post of the DG CAA which Vardag said is also a violation.

According to the rules it was not necessary that the DG should be a former officer of the Pakistan Air Force, Verdag explained. The correct procedure would have been to give the office to former PIA pilot Captain (retd) Nadeem Yousafzai, who was removed to accommodate Chaudhry, Verdag argued.

The SC, in its earlier judgment, had also ordered the government to probe the alleged financial corruption worth billions of rupees by previous DG Khalid Chaudhry, some contractors and others involved.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2013.