The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday reinstated Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Major General (R) Hafeez Ur Rehman on his post while suspending the decision of single bench.
A two-member bench, comprising Justice Muhammad Asif and Justice Raja Inaam Ameen Minhas, heard the intra-court appeal against the decision of single member bench which had ordered to remove the PTA Chairman from office.
Chairman PTA’s lawyer Qasim Wadood, Additional Attorney General and others appeared before the court during the hearing. The appeals were moved by the PTA, the Federation and the authority’s chairman against the previous order.
During the hearing, PTA lawyer Salman Mansoor argued that the single bench had granted the relief to the petition which was even not requested. Before removing the PTA Chairman, neither the rules were challenged nor was the Attorney General given notice, he said, adding that it was necessary to issue a notice to the Attorney General.
Lawyer Salman Mansoor said that the request that was not made in the petition, cannot be seen in Article 199. The court itself wrote that the entire discussion has not been completed as yet, he argued.
Justice Muhammad Asif spoke to the lawyer that “you were given enough opportunity.”
The lawyer said that two petitions containing objections were also filed and the decision was reserved without looking at them. Arguments were yet to be made on the objections to the admissibility of the petition. When the lawyers were on leave, the hearing was declared complete that day and the decision was reserved.
Additional Attorney General Rashid Hafeez Advocate said in his arguments that there was a competition among 64 people from all over Pakistan, out of which 24 candidates did qualify. The eligibility criteria were strictly followed, no candidate came to the court, he said, adding that the rules were changed with the approval of the Federal Cabinet before the vacancy was advertised. After hearing the arguments, the Division Bench reinstated Rehman as chairman PTA.
READ MORE: Islamabad High Court Orders Removal of PTA Chairman
It may be noted that Justice Babar Sattar of the Islamabad High Court, in his decision delivered on Tuesday, had ordered the immediate removal of the Chairman PTA from office. Later, Rehman filed an intra-court appeal in the Islamabad High Court against the decision.
