Court hearings: 23 constitutional posts will be filled, govt assures SC

Establishment division acknowledges many of these posts are lying vacant for years.

ISLAMABAD:

The federal government has assured the Supreme Court that 23 vacant posts, including the position of Chief Election Commissioner, will be filled within two weeks.

Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Sajid Bhatti told the two-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, that the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) has raised the issue of a delay in the appointment of officials.

In compliance with an earlier order, the DAG submitted a report in the top court on behalf of the Establishment Division, stating that 23 constitutional posts in the administration have been vacant for several years. These posts include: Chief Election Commissioner, Chairman Federal Service Tribunal (FST), Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC), Chairman Export Processing Zoo Authority, Chairman Federal Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education, Director General Pakistan Institute of Management, Chairman Karachi Port Trust, Chief Executive Pakistan National Council of Art (PNCA), Chairman Vocational and Technical Training Commission, Managing Director Associated Press of Pakistan, Chairman Services Tribunal, Chairman Employees Review Board, Chairman Implementation of Tribunal of Newspaper Employees (ITNE), Chairman Intellectual Property Organization, Chairman Pakistan Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, Chairman Pakistan Council of Research & Water Resources, Chairman Earthquake and Rehabilitation Authority (ERA), Chairman National Institute of Oceanography (NOI), Chairman National Trust Population Welfare (NTPW), Managing Director National Trust for Disabled, Director General National Institute of Electronics, Chairman Council of Works and Housing Research and Chairman Science Foundation.

The bench observed that on February 19, the government was given one month to complete appointments for these positions or face an order of the court. The bench adjourned the hearing until March 20.

The Express Tribune has learnt that litigants are facing immense problems with the Federal Service Tribunal since May 2013. Additionally, the secretary of the ministry of parliamentary affairs has forwarded a summary to the prime minister to initiate the process of appointing a CEC.

Meanwhile, the hearing into the case of 35 missing persons was underway today by a three-judge bench headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja. The court learned that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police did not register an FIR in the enforced disappearance of Yasin Shah, who was abducted from Malakad Division in September 2011. The bench directed the K-P government to register an FIR in the case and summoned the AGP and Advocate General K-P Latif Yousufzai regarding Shah’s recovery by March 10.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2014.