February 26, 2007	Monday	Safar 8, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 25: Nine high-ranking officers of the Engineering Development Board (EDB) have written a letter to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz telling him that any extension in the tenure of the Chief Executive Officer EDB Imtiaz A Rastgar would be a violation of the directives of the high court.

The officers had filed a writ petition with the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench and on Feb 2 they got a court directive against any possible extension in the tenure of Mr Rastgar, which is going to expire on March 7, this year. The case is still in the court.

Syed Naeem Bokhari advocate, the counsel for the petitioners, has written a letter to Prime Minister reminding him of the directive of the high court amidst speculations that Mr Rastgar might get extension for another term.

In their petition, the EDB General Manager Syed Adil Shah and eight other officers contended that Mr Rastgar was appointed as CEO despite the fact that he was not a qualified engineer and held just a B.Com degree.

The petition alleged that Mr Rastgar was running a factory of auto-parts in Sector I-9, Islamabad, and had close relations with Minister for Industries, Jehangir Tareen, which helped him secure the post ‘illegally’.

The petition further alleged that when the summary of appointment of EDB chief was moved to the prime minister, it contained the name of Mr Rastgar only instead of a panel of three competent persons.

The petitioners contended that Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) Ordinance 2006 clearly directed that only an engineer registered with the council having five-year experience could undertake any professional engineering work. Any violation of the ordinance could lead to six-month imprisonment and a fine of Rs10,000 fine or both.

Besides, the petitioners contended, Mr Rastgar was occupying the top post of an institution where policy decisions on tariff and duties on engineering goods, including auto-parts, were made despite the fact that he himself was an auto-parts manufacturer and vendor.