LAHORE, Jan 10: A division bench of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday provisionally allowed Dr Faiza Asghar to hold the office of adviser to chief minister. Comprising Justice Chaudhry Muzammil Khan and Justice Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi, the bench passed the interim order while admitting for regular hearing an appeal of Dr Faiza Asghar who challenged the order of a single bench wherein appointments of advisers to chief minister and Punjab government had been declared illegal.

The chairperson of the Punjab Child Protection and Welfare Bureau, Dr Faiza Asghar, who was also an adviser to the chief minister on child rights, has challenged the order of disqualification through an intra-court appeal.

Her counsel, Shahzad Shaukat, submitted that the petitioner was appointed chairperson of CPWB under the Punjab Destitute Child Act, and later her services were hired as an adviser to the chief minister on child issues. He submitted that the single bench had not considered this aspect.

The ICA prayed that the impugned order of the single bench might kindly be set aside and appointment of the petitioner as adviser declared lawful.

Justice Mian Hamid Farooq of the Lahore High Court had on Oct 18 declared the appointments of all advisers illegal, directing the chief secretary to withdraw their perks and privileges.