The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday suspended the notification of appointment of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Abrarul Haq as chairman of the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
A single bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the petition of Dr Saeed Elahi, former chairman of PRCS, and suspended the notification till next hearing to be held on November 29.
Justice Athar noted in his order, "The questions raised in this petition need consideration. The petition is therefore, admitted for regular hearing. The office is directed to re-list the petition on 29-11-2019."
He added that before the next date fixed, the respondents are expected to submit their written comments and the respondents are further directed to provide copies of written comments in advance to the learned counsel for the petitioner.
The court order said, "In the meanwhile, operation of notification regarding appointment of respondent No. 5 and removal of the petitioner shall remain suspended till the next date fixed."
Justice Athar said in the order that the petitioner's counsel has drawn the attention of this court to rule 11(b) in support of his contention that the tenure of the chairman of managing body of the Society is fixed for a period of three years unless the latter resigns earlier. "The learned counsel has stated that there is no power vested with the President to remove the chairman before the guaranteed fixed term," he added.
The court order stated that the attorney general for Pakistan has appeared and accepted the notice. It maintained, "The learned attorney general has argued that rule 11(b) is ultra vires of the primary statue i.e. Act of 1974. The learned attorney general has stressed that powers vested under section 5 do not empower the Managing Body to fix the tenure of the chairman that the power is restricted to determining the terms of members of the managing body."
In this matter, the former chairman PRCS Dr Saeed Elahi, who is also a former lawmaker belonging to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), cited the President of Pakistan, secretary Cabinet Division, secretary National Health Service and Ibrarul Haq as respondents in his petition.
Elahi adopted in the petition that he was appointed as chairman for a period of three years till March 9, 2020, while appointment of a new chairman before the said date was illegal.
He contended that Haq's appointment as the PRCS chairman could also create a conflict of interest as he already heads a charity, Sahara Foundation.
Elahi maintained that he was not served any notice before his removal and was not given any reason for his sacking. Therefore, he prayed to the court to set aside the notification relating to the appointment of new chairman issued on November 15 with the approval of President Dr Arif Alvi.
President Dr Arif Alvi, in his capacity as head of the PRCS, removed Dr Elahi and appointed PTI leader Abrarul Haq for a period of three years. Dr Elahi had been appointed by the PML-N government as the PRCS chairman in 2014 and was granted extension for another term in 2017.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019