IHC Suspended Justice Babar Sattar’s Order of PTA Chairperson Removal

On Thursday, the Islamabad High Court bench suspended Justice Babar’s order of suspending Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s Chairman, Major General Hafeez ur Rehman (rtd.).

IHC suspended Sattar’s order:

On Tuesday, Justice Babar issued an order of suspension of Hafeez from his position as chairperson of PTA. He was accused of being illegally appointed to this position. 

Hafeez filed a petition against Babar’s ruling. The Islamabad High Court bench, including Justices Muhammad Asif and Inam Ameen Minhas, heard Hafeez’s appeal. In 2023, the digital rights activist Usama Khilji filed a case in which he said that the appointment of Hafeez as the chairperson of PTA is illegal, unconstitutional, and void ab initio.

Hafeez challenged the allegation made by Usama within hours of it being announced. On Thursday, Advocate Qasim appeared as an advocate for Hafeez, while Additional Attorney General Salman Mansoor also presented his arguments. 

Mansoor started the hearing by saying that he was not informed of the rules challenged in the case. He said the Attorney General had to be informed about Hafeez’s ruling. He said, “Relief which was not even sought in the petition had been granted in Justice Sattar’s order. Neither were the rules challenged nor was a notice issued to the attorney general. Issuing a notice to the attorney general was necessary.”

The AAG argued that the request not sought in a petition could not be considered under Article 199 of the Constitution. Mansoor said, “The court itself stated that the entire argument was not complete yet.”

Hafeez’s advocate said, “You were given enough opportunity. It was questioned in the writ petition that the appointment of the PTA chairman could not be made as the vacancy was wrongly advertised, but the rules had been changed. The Federal cabinet had given the approval, following which the appointment was made.” He added, “The rules had been amended on March 25, 2023,  after which the petition was filed.”

Hafeez’s case and Sattar’s ruling:

In a previous ruling, Justice Sattar highlighted that the advertisement for the post issued on March 28, 2023, came at a time when there was no legal order for a vacant position in PTA. He observed that the recruitment process “suffered from malice in law.” 

He thought that the whole procedure was meant to accommodate a particular person. The court then ordered that the retired General’s selection as chief of PTA without any transparent and objective selection process was “illegal, irrational, and unsustainable in the eyes of the law.”

The Judge then gave a verdict to remove the PTA chairman and appointed the senior-most serving member of PTA as the chairperson till the Federal court appointed the permanent one. Though IHC has now suspended this order.