PTDC case: K-P chief secretary put on notice
Directed to submit reply, PTDC assets details in one week.
PHOTO: IHC WEBSITE
ISLAMABAD:
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday put the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) chief secretary on notice for violating court orders in a case pertaining to jurisdiction over 19 Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) motels and hotels situated in the province.
Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi ordered K-P Chief Secretary Amjad Ali Khan to submit his reply as well as details of PTDC’s assets in the province within one week.
Control of 19 PTDC facilities in K-P has been a point of contention between the federal and provincial governments since 2014.
A high court verdict, however, barred the K-P government from taking control of the 19 hotels and motels. The federal government maintains that they are federal properties.
The dispute is linked to the uncertainty over the fate of the PTDC in light of the 18th Amendment, which made tourism a provincial subject.
Raja Saimul Haq Satti, the counsel for PTDC, maintained that the respondents willfully and knowingly violated a series of court orders.
The K-P chief secretary, tourism secretary, Hazara and Malakand division commissioners, and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Tourism Corporation managing director and administrative officer have been listed as respondents in the petition.
The K-P government had issued a notification under which it assumed administrative control of some PTDC properties, said Satti.
He said that the provincial government was once again interfering in the management, administration and possession of properties in the province.
“The [chief secretary’s notification] speaks volumes about contemptuous conduct of the respondents and also indicates illegal intent…of the respondents towards further violating the court order,” he said.
Satti maintained that PTDC’s functions are related to the affairs of the federation.
In an order passed last Friday, Justice Qureshi had said that in view of the contemptuous conduct of the officer who issued notice, the K-P chief secretary was required to submit his reply to the allegations levelled in the application moved before the court. The court had directed him to submit a reply in seven days or appear before the court in person.
The Hazara division deputy commissioner, Malakand division revenue officer, and K-P police were directed not to take possession of the properties, read the order. “In case possession of the properties is taken over by the officers, it will amount to contempt of court and a clear violation of the order passed by the court,” the order said.
On Thursday, Satti informed the court that the respondents had complied with the court orders but had not submitted a report. To this, the court directed the K-P chief secretary to submit the report in one week.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 15th, 2015.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday put the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) chief secretary on notice for violating court orders in a case pertaining to jurisdiction over 19 Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) motels and hotels situated in the province.
Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi ordered K-P Chief Secretary Amjad Ali Khan to submit his reply as well as details of PTDC’s assets in the province within one week.
Control of 19 PTDC facilities in K-P has been a point of contention between the federal and provincial governments since 2014.
A high court verdict, however, barred the K-P government from taking control of the 19 hotels and motels. The federal government maintains that they are federal properties.
The dispute is linked to the uncertainty over the fate of the PTDC in light of the 18th Amendment, which made tourism a provincial subject.
Raja Saimul Haq Satti, the counsel for PTDC, maintained that the respondents willfully and knowingly violated a series of court orders.
The K-P chief secretary, tourism secretary, Hazara and Malakand division commissioners, and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Tourism Corporation managing director and administrative officer have been listed as respondents in the petition.
The K-P government had issued a notification under which it assumed administrative control of some PTDC properties, said Satti.
He said that the provincial government was once again interfering in the management, administration and possession of properties in the province.
“The [chief secretary’s notification] speaks volumes about contemptuous conduct of the respondents and also indicates illegal intent…of the respondents towards further violating the court order,” he said.
Satti maintained that PTDC’s functions are related to the affairs of the federation.
In an order passed last Friday, Justice Qureshi had said that in view of the contemptuous conduct of the officer who issued notice, the K-P chief secretary was required to submit his reply to the allegations levelled in the application moved before the court. The court had directed him to submit a reply in seven days or appear before the court in person.
The Hazara division deputy commissioner, Malakand division revenue officer, and K-P police were directed not to take possession of the properties, read the order. “In case possession of the properties is taken over by the officers, it will amount to contempt of court and a clear violation of the order passed by the court,” the order said.
On Thursday, Satti informed the court that the respondents had complied with the court orders but had not submitted a report. To this, the court directed the K-P chief secretary to submit the report in one week.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 15th, 2015.