Undue favour?: SECP chairman’s appointment challenged
Petitioner says Hijazi had been the SECP commissioner for two terms between 1999 and 2004.
Petitioner says Hijazi had been the SECP commissioner for two terms between 1999 and 2004. STOCK IMAGE
ISLAMABAD:
A petitioner has challenged appointment of Zafarul Haq Hijazi as Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) chairperson, terming it a violation of DECP Act 1997.
Chaudhry said Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was a class fellow and a close friend of Hijazi and that the appointment was made on the basis of favouritism. In 2004, then PM Shaukat Aziz refused to grant extension to Hijazi as SECP commissioner, he said. The petition also claimed that competitive process was not followed during the appointment. Justice Athar Minallah will take up the matter today (Friday).
Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2015.
A petitioner has challenged appointment of Zafarul Haq Hijazi as Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) chairperson, terming it a violation of DECP Act 1997.
Petitioner Riaz Ahmed Chaudhry, an Islamabad-based lawyer, maintained that Hijazi had been the SECP commissioner for two terms between 1999 and 2004. A person who has availed two terms as commissioner cannot be appointed chairman under the SECP Act, the petitioner said.
Hijazi was appointed chairman in December 2014.
Chaudhry said Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was a class fellow and a close friend of Hijazi and that the appointment was made on the basis of favouritism. In 2004, then PM Shaukat Aziz refused to grant extension to Hijazi as SECP commissioner, he said. The petition also claimed that competitive process was not followed during the appointment. Justice Athar Minallah will take up the matter today (Friday).
Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2015.