The Supreme Court on Monday raised a question about the fate of a common man if appointments in public sector are made with the blessing of influential people. A five-member larger bench headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali resumed the hearing of identical constitutional petitions filed against illegal appointments and massive corruption in Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI).
Appearing before the bench, Afrasiab Chaudhry, the counsel for Raja Azeemul Haq, son in law of the former Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, contended that his client was legally appointed in the EOBI. Chaudhry pleaded that the apex court should not have issued directives to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) while Azeemul Haq had himself resigned from the World Bank. However, dismissing the plea of Azeemul Haq, the bench directed him to prove his innocence before the NAB pertaining to the current matter.
A member of the bench, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, remarked that there should be rule of law, saying it's the constitutional duty of the court to take actions where there is a violation of the rules. Appearing before the bench on behalf of some ousted EOBI employees for review petitions in the instant matter, Hafeez Pirzada urged the court to convert his clients' review petitions into appeals under Article 184 (3).
Another member of the bench, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, remarked that a decision regarding the jurisdiction of 184 (3) is no small issue and cannot be decided through matter in hand. The bench directed Pirzada to advance his arguments to substantiate his view point on Article 184 (3) during the next hearing before it adjourned the matter till July 08 (today).
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