LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday set aside the appointment of chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) Lt Gen Muhammad Munir Afsar made by the caretaker government.
The court directed the registrar office to send the copy of the judgment to the federal cabinet, the ministry of interior and all departments concerned.
Petitioner a citizen, Ashba Kamran, had challenged the appointment initially made by the caretaker set-up on October 02, 2023 and retained by the elected government through a new notification issued on March 28, 2024.
The main argument of the petitioner was that the federal government lacked authority to appoint a serving army officer to the office under the Nadra Ordinance, 2000.
She also questioned the legitimacy of Rule-7A of the Nadra Rules, 2020, which allows the federal government to appoint, when it considers expedient in national interest, any officer of the service of Pakistan as the chairman.
She contended that the incumbent government merely rubber-stamped the impugned appointment, unlawfully made by the caretaker government without adhering to the requirements of conducting fair and competitive process for appointment by inviting potential aspirants.
A law officer questioned the locus standi of the petitioner to agitate the matter and said the federal government was competent to undertake rule-making exercise and when discretion was exercised, there was no requirement of issuing a public advertisement or to undertake a competitive recruitment process.
Nadra Chairman Lt Gen Afsar also defended his appointment through an independent counsel, claiming that qualifications prescribed in the law were met to hold the office.
The court observed that a non-advertised and competitive deficient appointment is contrary to the mandate of Article 18 of the Constitution.
The court maintained that resorting to mechanism or making of direct appointment, without qualification based evaluation and determining relative suitability, is impermissible and any appointment made in disregard of qualifications tantamount to abuse/excessive exercise of delegated authority.
The court rejected a defence taken by the government that leakage of sensitive data and national interest led to direct appointment.
The court observed that mere leakage of data is no ground to abandon qualification-based and meritorious appointments.
The court also brushed aside another argument that on two different occasions the officers in service were appointed as Nadra chairman and observed that an illegality committed previously would not validate the appointment.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024