KARACHI: Govt defends appointment of CM’s advisers
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, April 26: The provincial government defended on Tuesday the appointment of chief minister’s advisers as lawful and constitutional. Dr Nizamuddin Memon, former EDO Health, has assailed the appointment of the CM’s advisers in his petition against the order of Health Adviser Faisal Malik, transferring him from the CDGK and asking him to report to the provincial health department.
He said while the constitution provided for appointment of advisers to the prime minister, there was no provision for their appointment at the provincial level. His appointment being unconstitutional, Mr Malik had no authority to transfer him, said the petitioner.
Contesting the petition, AAG M. Ahmed Pirzada argued that the advisers’ appointment could not have been questioned collaterally, least of all in a petition agitating what was essentially a service matter.
The provincial advisers’ appointment has been upheld and insofar as the petitioner’s grievance relating to his transfer was concerned, he should have approached the competent service tribunal, which has exclusive jurisdiction over service matters.
The petitioner, the AAG said, was lawfully transferred and replaced by a senior doctor serving in grade 19. EDOs for health were grade 19 officers all over the province. He recalled that former Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid had passed strictures against Dr Memon in his probe report on the assassination of Mir Murtaza Bhutto.
Appearing for the CDGK, Advocate Manzoor Ahmed submitted that the city nazim was against the petitioner’s transfer and the impugned order was passed over and above his head. The nazim objected to the transfer in a letter to the provincial government. The counsel produced the letter in the court and said its copy was also sent to President Pervez Musharraf.
A division bench, comprising Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Azizullah M. Memon adjourned further proceedings to May 3.
Billboard allowed: A division bench of the Sindh High Court asked an outdoor advertiser on Tuesday to deposit the amount of the bid offered by him for a huge billboard on the FTC Flyover on Shahrah-i-Faisal with the court nazir and go ahead with putting up the hoarding pending the hearing of his petition.
Represented by Advocate Shahanshah Husain, the petitioner submitted that he purchased the advertisement site for Rs 3 million at a public auction conducted by the city district government. Before he could install the hoarding, he was asked by the Faisal Cantonment Board that the flyover fell within its territorial limits and he would have to pay the charges to the cantonment authorities.
City government counsel Manzoor Ahmed said the flyover was not only built but was also maintained by the CDGK. The cantonment board had no right or authority to lease out any advertisement site on it or recover any charges in respect of it. He said the site was auctioned for a year and the petitioner submitted the highest bid of Rs 3 million.
A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Maqbool Baqar, asked the CDGK and the cantonment board to resolve the dispute over jurisdiction by a mutual settlement, failing which the court would adjudicate the issue. The two respondents failed to reach any settlement and the bench decided to proceed with the adjudication. By an interim order, it allowed the petitioner advertiser to deposit the bid amount with the nazir and utilize the site purchased by him.
NOTICE ISSUED: The Sindh High Court issued the provincial government a notice on Tuesday in a petition challenging its decision to bar schools and other educational institutions from recovering the tuition fee and other charges from their pupils and students for the summer vacation.
The petition was moved by the Beaconhouse schools system through Barrister Kamaluddin Azfar. It said the impugned decision would cause great financial hardship as the school management had to pay salaries to teachers and other staff employed by it during the three-month vacation.
The management, the petition said, had also to maintain other services, like transport during the vacation. Medical, other allowances or facilities were also provided to the employees during the vacation. If it was deprived of the fees for three months, it would not be possible for the management to meet its recurring overhead expenditure. The fees for the whole year are included in the annual budget as part of income.
A division bench, comprising Justices Ataur Rahman and S. Ali Aslam Jaferi, issued notices to the provincial government and its education department for May 4.
