LAHORE: A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday reinstated Lieutenant General Munir Afsar, as chairman National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra).

The bench on an intra court appeal of the federal government issued notice to the respondent and suspended the decision of a single bench that declared the appointment of Lt Gen Munir Afsar as NADRA chairman null and void.

A citizen, Ashba Kamran had approached the LHC against the appointment of in-service army officer as chairman Nadra.

She contended that the caretaker government approved the appointment of a serving army officer by amending the Nadra Ordinance.

The petitioner argued that the caretaker government was not mandated to take decision on permanent policy matters and requested the court to remove the respondent from the office.

Earlier, a law officer argued that the single bench’s decision was not in accordance with the law.

He said the petitioner’s request was limited only to the extent of the notification issued by the caretaker government.

He also contended that the federal government is competent to undertake rule-making exercise under the mandate of Section 44 of the Nadra Ordinance, 2000, which included the power to amend the rules.

He maintained that the appointment of the chairman had been made under rule-7A of the Nadra rules, 2020 and when discretion is exercised, there is no requirement of issuing a public advertisement or to undertake competitive recruitment process.

He, therefore, asked the court to annul the single-member bench’s verdict.

The court after hearing the law officer suspended the order of a single bench and sought reply from the respondent.

On October 2, last year Lieutenant General Munir Afsar was appointed as the new Chairman Nadra.

The appointment was made after the then chairman Nadra Tariq Malik decided to step down from the post following his meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024