Controversial move: Federal Judicial Academy head likely to get one-year extension

Dr Faqir Hussain previously received two extensions before retiring as SC registrar

ISLAMABAD:

Federal Judicial Academy (FJA) Director General (DG) Dr Faqir Hussain has applied for another extension as his one year contract is set to expire on May 15, officials of the academy told The Express Tribune on Saturday.

According to them, the former Supreme Court registrar is likely to receive the one-year extension as the proposal for his reappointment to the grade 22 post has already been forwarded to Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk, who performs as the chairman of the FJA board of directors.

Dr Faqir retired as SC registrar in 2009, but proceeded to get two extensions for the post. After facing immense criticism, he decided to relinquish the additional charge as the secretary of the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan in 2011.

On the grounds of being time-barred, the Supreme Court had last month dismissed a five-year-old plea against former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry’s decision to give the additional charge of LJCP secretary to Dr Faqir. Faqir retired as SC Registrar on March 22, 2014.

Presently, the FJA DG is getting a Rs375,000 per month salary along with additional perks and privileges.

On April 14, 2014, President Mamnoon Hussain promulgated an ordinance for amendment in the FJA Act 1997 and converted the academy into the ‘Centre of Excellence for Law and Judicial Academy’. On May 15, 2013, former chief justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani appointed Dr Faqir as FJA DG

But, sources reveal that the ordinance has lapsed and the academy could not be converted into ‘Centre of Excellence for Law and Judicial Academy’, therefore, the task regarding the appointment of Dr Faqir had not been fulfilled in the last year.

Presently, the top brass of the academy is working on finalising contracts because the academy’s officials have no service rules for promotion.

Former FJA DG Pervaiz Ali Chawla has been appointed as senior director of the academy and he is seeking a one year extension as well.

A senior official in FJA further revealed that employees of the FJA are being deprived of their service promotions because no service rules exist for academy officials. On October 6, 2010, around 62 employees of the academy wrote a letter to then chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, complaining that there are no rules for their promotion to the next grade.

In a five-page letter to the FJA chairman, they requested the then CJP that service rules for the employees should be framed with the setting up of a promotion board. Despite the CJP’s directive, the FJA’s administration has failed to finalise service rules for academy’s employees.

The official said that top brass of the academy is working on finalising contracts; therefore, they are not taking interest in framing the promotion rules for the academy’s employees.

Meanwhile, Supreme Court Bar Association President Kamran Murtaza has raised an objection over the grant of extension in the service of Dr Faqir as DG FJA and said that if former SC registrar is indispensable then he should be appointed to this post for a lifetime.


Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2015.