KARACHI, Oct 23: The Sindh High Court asked the advocate-general on Tuesday to submit on October 30 the record of recruitments made by the provincial government since 2005.
Contesting a petition moved by former city nazim Niamatullah Khan, Advocate-General Khwaja Naveed Ahmed informed the bench that a ban on recruitments remained in force since 2002. The ban was lifted in 2005 and all vacancies were filled in accordance with a policy and procedure advertised in the press. Applications were invited from candidates and written tests and interviews were conducted.
Referring to the averments made by the petitioner, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah said the petitioner had alleged that jobs were given to favourites while bona fide candidates who qualified the tests were ignored. According to the petitioner, there was no policy framework and job quotas were shared between themselves by coalition partners to accommodate their favourite candidates.
Asking the AG to produce the recruitment record and policy, the bench adjourned further hearings to Oct 30 and extended the interim order restraining the government from filling vacancies.
Notices issued to KESC heads
Meanwhile, a division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Salman Ansari issued notices on Tuesday to the managing director and the chief engineer of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) on Mr Niamatullah’s petition against prolonged and unannounced load-shedding, adds PPI.
The former city nazim had submitted that since the beginning of the summer, the KESC had started load-shedding despite an assurance given last year that this would not occur in 2007. He submitted that the load-shedding was initially for one hour, two or three times a day. However, the duration later increased to up to two hours, more than four times daily.
The petition stated that the KESC had tried to justify its poor performance by pleading the lack of power generation and had assured consumers that the problem would be rectified in a week’s time. However, over two months had passed without any improvement and currently, citizens in various parts of the city were suffering load-shedding of about ten to 20 hours, or even the entire day.
Mr Niamatullah said in his petition that at the time the KESC was privatised, it was claimed that load-shedding measures were being taken in order to boost power generation and electric supply. It now appeared, however, that the new KESC owners had failed to manage the situation. The petition also said that the KESC had, without any announcement or justification, increased electricity charges by 29 paisa per unit.
Naming the KESC managing director, the deputy managing director and the chief engineer as respondents, the former city nazim submitted that citizens were being deprived of a fundamental right. He asked the court to ensure that the KESC did not discriminate against any area, minimised load-shedding during the day and avoided it altogether at night.
After a preliminary hearing, the division bench of the Sindh High Court issued notices and adjourned the matter until further date. – PPI
