The appointment of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Engineering Development Board (EDB), Tariq Ejaz Chaudhary has been challenged in Islamabad High Court (IHC). A writ petition has been filed by Abdul Waheed Burdi, a resident of Islamabad through Barrister Qasim Nawaz Abbasi in the court of Justice Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui.
CEO EDB, Tariq Ejaz Chaudhary, Secretary Ministry of Industries and Production, Secretary Establishment Division and Secretary to Prime Minister have been made respondents in the petition. The petitioner has challenged the entire selection process which was allegedly tailored through a yellow chit (adhesive note) written by the then Secretary Industries and Production Raja Hasan Abbas who was also the CEO of EDB.
According to the petition, CEO EDB has so far not furnished his experience certificates of 20 years as required including five years in top management positions. Hence his past experience remains unverified from his previous employers till today. As per the CV submitted by CEO EDB, he was serving in Saudi Arabia from 2008 to 2014 and obtained his PhD degree from Western Valley Central University, Washington-DC, USA in 2011. The question arises as to how he was able to acquire a Doctorate degree during service in another country? The said university is alleged to be a fake diploma mill and the genuineness or otherwise of his PhD degree has not so far been ascertained from HEC.
The petition further contended that there were no exceptional circumstances which could provide justification to relax the criteria and to re-advertise the post, especially when a candidate with requisite criteria and qualifications in the first round was recommended for selection by the Board.
The yellow chit says "please ask K.H. Malik to bring a new advertisement reducing the experience 3-5 years as CEO instead of 10 years, however, qualification will remain the same". The petitioner maintains that there was no justification for reducing the experience criteria, which is tainted with malafide.
The appointment was made after relaxing the criteria and tailoring the requisite experience criteria to select and appoint CEO EDB. The principles of transparency, fairness, merit, rule of law and credible processes were not adhered to. The petitioner further argued that impugned notification is in sheer violation of Articles 27 of the Constitution, Article 4, Article 5 and Article 25 of the constitution.
The petitioner made a case that the acts of Secretary to Prime Minister, Secretary Industries and Production and Secretary Establishment Division are illegal as they gave undue benefit and advantage to their 'favourite' ie incumbent CEO The petitioner has prayed to the IHC that in light of the background of injustice, his petition should be accepted and Notification of March 27, 2015 be set aside after declaring it void, coram non judice, illegal and without lawful Authority.
It is also prayed that the IHC should order recovery of salaries, perks, privileges and consequential benefits which respondent No 1 has illegally been receiving in connection with this appointment whereas Secretary Industries be directed initiation of departmental and criminal proceedings as per law against the incumbent CEO EDB. After hearing the preliminary arguments the IHC issued notices to CEO EDB, Secretary Industries and Production, Secretary Establishment and Secretary to Prime Minister who were directed to file para-wise comments within a fortnight.
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