Argues committee overstepped its authority by ordering his removal, court calls in members, cabinet secretary. STOCK IMAGE
A senior officer from the capital’s civic agency has filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court requesting it to declare a recent Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat direction regarding his removal from office illegal and unconstitutional.
Accepting the petition, Justice Athar Minallah on Wednesday issued notices to the standing committee, the cabinet secretary, and the CDA to explain the issue.
On November 11, 2014, the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, chaired by Senator Kalsoom Perveen, directed the CDA chairman to remove Mustafain Kazmi from the position of CDA environment member.
The petitioner contended that by passing directions for his removal, the senate panel not only exceeded its constitutional limits and misused its powers, but also usurped the statutory mandate of the CDA.
Kazmi is not unfamiliar with the wrath of politicians. During the previous PPP government, he was ousted from the CDA, even though he is a CDA-cadre officer, after refusing to approve a controversial work tender.
The counsel for the petitioner, Advocate Hafiz Arafat, said Senate rules clearly and categorically define the mandate and powers bestowed to senate standing committees.
Referring to Senate rule 158 (2), Arafat said a standing committee can only take cognisance of policy matters and cannot indulge in administrative matters concerning appointments or promotions of government employees.
He said a senate committee is a forum that can only make recommendations to the Senate on issues forwarded to it by the same house, and that it cannot pass specific rulings.
He also mentioned Section 37 of the CDA Ordinance, which pertains to the appointment of officers at the CDA, saying that the CDA chairman is the competent authority for appointing officers against any post in case of an urgent need.
Arafat also cited a number of related Supreme Court judgments. One SC judgment read, “It is by now a well settled law that deciding suitability of an appointing, posting or transfer fell primarily on the executive branch.”
The petition adds that the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat transgressed its limits and encroached upon the domain of the executive branch, which is offensive to the concept of trichotomy of power.
Kazmi prayed that the court should declare the directions for his removal from office illegal, unconstitutional and unwarranted and set it aside.
Formation of Senate committee
Though it is the first time that an officer has openly challenged the standing committee, behind closed doors, CDA officers are known to complain about “unlawful” and “questionable” directions from the committee.
Incidentally, at least two members of the committee are active real estate investors in Islamabad and another is the owner of a construction firm which is currently executing a CDA road project.
“Due to the nature of their businesses, these committee members are even more interested than our own staff regarding the appointments of officers at senior positions in the CDA,” said a senior officer of the authority.
When asked about this, Committee Chairperson Senator Kalsoom Perveen, who will retire on March 11, 2015 upon completion of her six-year term, told The Express Tribune that the committee had no interest in appointments or posting at the CDA.
“The Senate referred the issue of pending inquiries against CDA officials to the committee. We discussed it and found that several officers are working at important posts despite the fact that they are still facing inquiries,” Perveen said, adding that the committee would “soon” submit its recommendations on the issue to the Senate chairman.
She did not, however, reply to queries related to the direction on Kazmi’s removal, which was passed by the committee in its last meeting.
On the possible conflict of interest that committee members may have, she said it is not objectionable for a legislator to be a real estate investor or owner of a construction firm. Perveen said the senators involved have never hidden their business interests from anyone.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2015.
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