De-notify Shujaat Azeem or explain his appointment, SC tells govt

Apex court takes strong exception of a convicted person’s appointment as special assistant to prime minister

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday took strong exception of appointing Captain (retd) Shujaat Azeem, a convicted person, as the special assistant to prime minister on Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the position equivalent to the status of a state minister.

The three-judge bench, headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim, asked the federal government to either de-notify Azeem or defend his appointment before the court.

The bench, while hearing a petition that called for initiating contempt proceedings against the premier, also raised question whether the premier could appoint a convicted person on the post.



Additional Attorney General Waqar Rana requested the bench to allow some time for receiving government’s instructions on the matter.

In 2013, the Supreme Court had expressed concern over the appointment of Azeem as adviser to the PM in the CAA, as he was court-martialed by the Pakistan Air Force.

In view of the concerns, Azeem tendered his resignation; however, he was again appointed as special assistant on the same post after the retirement of former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary.



The bench, however, observed that the summary, which was sent to PM regarding the appointment did not reflect the PAF had convicted him.

The court directed the secretaries cabinet and CAA to appear in person or depute an official responsible to answer the queries on December 2.