The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued directives to the Federation to fill the vacant slot of Chairman, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), without any further delay. A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry resumed the hearing of a petition of Khurram Shehzad Chughtai for quick auction for 3G spectrum licences.
At the outset of hearing, Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Imran-ul-Haq apprised the bench that currently Syed Ismail Shah, a PhD, has been given the charge of the Authority as Acting Chairman; however, the bench observed that Pakistan Telecom-munication Reorganisation Act, 1996 does not contain any provision to appoint Acting Chairman of the PTA. Haq further told the bench that the government had already issued a schedule for bringing the 3G technology in Pakistan, adding that an amount of $ 800 million out of the privatisation amount of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) was yet to be received.
It is pertinent to mention that Syed Ismail Shah was appointed as one of the members of the three-member PTA body; he was elevated as Acting Chairman of the Authority through a notification on September 26, 2013. Another member, Muhammad Raza Khan, former law secretary, was given the additional charge of member law PTA.
The Chief Justice Chaudhry observed that the court had noted with grave concern that federal government functionaries despite earlier directions had failed to appoint the permanent chairman PTA. The hearing of case was adjourned for a week.