HYDERABAD: The PIA chairman’s order regarding closure of the national flag carrier’s sales offices in Hyderabad, Shikarpur and Jacobabad was suspended by the Hyderabad and Larkana division benches of the Sindh High Court on Tuesday.

The Hyderabad circuit bench comprising Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Mohammad Junaid Ghaffar fixed the matter for hearing on April 29 and the Larkana circuit bench comprising Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto and Justice Salahuddin Panhwar set April 15 as the date for hearing the case.

Issuing an order on a joint constitutional petition filed by Fazalur Rehman, Mohammad Kashif, Shafique Ahmed Qureshi, Chaudhry Nizamuddin and others represented by Advocate Arshad Pathan, the Hyderabad circuit bench restrained the PIA chairman and other respondents, the defence secretary, Civil Aviation Authority and PIA directors, from disturbing working of the airline’s Hyderabad sales office.

The petitioners informed the court that the office had been established for the people of Hyderabad division, which was the second largest division of Sindh, so that PIA customers could easily get tickets and avail other essential services linked to domestic and international flights.

The beneficiaries included lawmakers, government officials and industrialists of Kotri, Nooriabad and Hyderabad besides members of the general public, they said.

The petitioners claimed that the office had been meeting and even exceeding its target. This could be verified from the PIA management’s communication with their district manager and other staff regarding highest growth rate in sales in the recent past.

They stated that the respondents without considering facts in respect of the sales office decided to close domestic offline stations, including Hyderabad.

The petitioners claimed that the Hyderabad office was earning more than the airline’s Karachi offices as it was providing services to its customers in 13 districts of Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas divisions.

They informed the court that a letter dated April 3, 2014 regarding the decision to close the sales offices in Hyderabad and Nawabshah districts was illegal as it had been issued without authority and without an approval from government.

They stated that the PIA management had illegally posted 15 persons and increased its salary expenditure without any reason. They alleged that a courier service had been introduced without following the relevant by-laws while the airline’s budget was being used to run the service for favourites.

They stated that closure of the office would badly affect the business community and university students.

They prayed to court to declare the respondents’ act of closing the office unconstitutional and illegal.

The Sindh High Court Larkana division suspended the PIA chairman’s order regarding closure of the airline’s sales offices in Shikarpur and Jacobabad on a petition filed by Air League president Lala Abdul Qayoom Pathan through his lawyer, Shabir Shar.

The petitioner disputed the PIA management’s claim about losses, and informed the court that the Jacobabad sales office had done a business of Rs18.9 million and the Shikarpur office Rs11.8 million in 2013.

He informed the court that the annual expenditure of the Shikarpur office was just Rs2.3 million.

The Jacobabad and Shikarpur sales offices were providing PIA services to its customers coming from as far as Sibi, he said.

He prayed to the court that the respondents be directed to continue the operation of the offices in public interest.

The petitioner’s counsel produced in court a notification regarding restoration of the airline’s Hyderabad sales office, and argued that if one of the recently closed offices could be restored then why the Jacobabad and Shikarpur sales offices could not be reopened.