New FST chairman: ‘Service tribunal chief to be named in 15 days’

AGP submits notification of incumbent FST chairman’s removal.

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Wednesday assured the Supreme Court that the chairperson of the Federal Service Tribunal (FST) will be appointed within 15 days.

The attorney general of Pakistan (AGP) made the assurance on the government’s behalf while presenting the notification of the incumbent FST chairman’s removal to a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Anwar Zaheer Jamali.

The CJP during the hearing had stressed that they were hearing this case not to remove Sheikh Ahmad Farooq from the FST chairman’s office but to ensure that all appointments in the institution were made on merit and in accordance with the law.

“We [the Supreme Court] do not take up issues for personal interest. We are neither against anyone nor do we want a clash between institutions,” he said.

Justice Amir Hani Muslim asked the AGP whether the new FST chairman will be appointed after consultation with the CJP. To this, the AGP replied that the appointment will be made in accordance with the law.

The bench remarked that a larger bench will decide the legal question regarding consulting the CJP while appointing the members of FST and the chairperson of the drug court.  The hearing of the case has been adjourned for one month. The federal government appointed Sheikh Ahmad Farooq as the FST chairman last year without consulting the CJP, prompting the top court to declare the move illegal.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th, 2015.