An Islamabad High Court division bench on Thursday suspended an earlier order[1] of the removal of retired Major General Hafeezur Rehman from the post of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) chairperson.
The bench, comprising Justices Muhammad Asif and Inaam Ameen Minhas, took up Rehman’s intra-court appeal against the ruling issued by Justice Babar Sattar on Tuesday, which had ordered the PTA chief’s removal over his “illegal” appointment to the position on a plea filed by digital rights activist Usama Khilji in 2023.
Advocate Qasim Wadood appeared as the counsel for the PTA chairman, while Additional Attorney General Salman Mansoor was also present.
During the hearing, Wadood contended that “relief which was not even sought in the petition had been granted” in the earlier order.
“Neither were the rules challenged nor was a notice issued to the attorney general. Issuing a notice to the attorney general was necessary,” he said.
In his verdict, Justice Sattar remarked: “The entire process of creation of the post of member (administration), prescription of qualifications and criteria for such post and the manner in which the recruitment process was carried out lacked integrity and suffered from mala fide in law.“
He had ordered that the senior-most serving PTA member would temporarily assume the charge of the office of PTA chairman till the time that the federal government appointed a regular chairman.
More to follow