SECP, CCP excluded from new rules for selecting chiefs; petitioner says it effects transparency. PHOTO: FILE
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday suspended a government notification which had excluded the Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) from the purview of the Federal Commission for Selection of Heads of Public Sector Organisations (FCSHPS).
IHC Justice Shaukat Aziz Suddiqui, while hearing a public interest petition, suspended the notification issued by the government on March 4. The FCSHPS was formed after the Supreme Court had ordered the selection of heads for 58 public sector organisations, however, the two regulatory bodies were excluded.
The court also issued notices to the establishment secretary and FCSHPS chairman seeking their replies. The date of the next hearing will be set by the registrar office later.
The petitioner, Advocate Muhammad Dawood Ghazanavi, argued that the exclusion these two important regulatory bodies from the purview of the commission indicated the mala fide intention of the government.
He said that both the bodies were important and they must be included in the commission. The petitioner said that though the commission was independent to appoint key heads in different organisations, transparency could not be ensured after the government excluded names of two important bodies.
He contended that in recent years, appointments were made in different organisations without following proper procedures. He said that the apex court has recently observed that all positions in government-owned organisations, corporations and companies were required to be filled through a competitive, credible and transparent process.
During the previous government, many controversial appointments were made which were later declared illegal by the IHC or the Supreme Court. Some of this include scandal-riddled former Ogra chief Tauqir Sadiq, former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf, former Federal Board of Revenue chairman Ali Arshad Hakeem, and the former SECP chairman.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 4th, 2014.
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Thank you, Mr Chief Justice, Islamabad High Court. Even the re-appointment of the three Members of the CCP should have been put through the process of the Federal Commission for Selection of Heads of Public Sector Organisations (FCSHPS) rather than the Ministry of Finance doing so.