A division bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) has served a notice on the Secretary General of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), and seven others in a contempt of court application filed by petitioner Abdul Rashid Abro. The application was made under Sections 3 and 4 of the Contempt of Court Act.
All the eight alleged contemnors have been 'warned' to appear before the division bench, comprising Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Mujeebullah Siddiqui, in person or by a pleader duly instructed on January 31 "to show-cause against the application, failing wherein, the said application will be heard and determined ex-parte."
The petitioner had filed the application seeking an order of the court, amongst others the ad hoc committee formed in the annual general meeting be declared as without jurisdiction.
The matter came up before a division bench of the SHC and after hearing the arguments the court had observed, and directed that the ad hoc managing committee shall only run the day-to-day administrative affairs and shall not incur major expenditures and take major decisions.
Tracing the events ie the actions of the FPCCI secretary general calling for elections and operation of the ad hoc committee, the petitioner has submitted that the secretary general can only act on the advice or supervision of the managing committee and the managing committee not being in place, the action of the secretary general is illegal and liable to be suspended and injunction granted against him. That despite the order dated January 7 passed by the court in total disregard, and to openly flaunt the order, the said managing committee without the president and seven vice-presidents appointed a sub-committee on January 17 to run the affairs of the association.
He also submitted that the sub-committee has been constituted as a substitute of the ad hoc committee which could not act in view of the order of the court.
It has been prayed that the court may proceed against the said secretary general in the contempt of the court's order dated January 7, 2005, and the court may be pleased to proceed against the members of the sub-committee in contempt of the court.