KARACHI: Acting Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court Faisal Arab on Thursday directed the acting inspector general of police, Ghulam Hyder Jamali, home secretary and other authorities concerned to give their respective replies in a petition seeking the recovery of a brother-in-law of an SHC judge allegedly abducted by personnel of police and other law enforcement agencies.

The victim, Qazi Zafar Abbas, director of finance at the University of Karachi and husband of a sister of an SHC judge, was picked up by police and other law enforcement agencies in the morning when he was being driven to the university.

The director of the KU’s legal department, Asif Mukhtar, sent an application to the SHC acting chief justice regarding the abduction of the finance director by LEAs in Gulshan-i-Iqbal.

Quoting the victim’s driver, Haider Zaman, the applicant said the police and LEAs personnel intercepted their vehicle near Rab Medical Centre and forcibly took away Mr Abbas.

The applicant said that the victim was a diabetic and heart patient and his life was in danger.

He asked the court to direct the police and LEAs to produce the ‘missing person’ in court.

The acting chief justice converted the application of the KU director (legal) into a constitutional petition and directed all authorities concerned to submit their comments on the matter on Friday.

Accountant General reinstated

The Sindh High Court suspended on Thursday the transfer of the provincial accountant general who was removed from the post through a notification issued by the establishment division.

While disposing of the constitutional petition of Muhammad Ashraf Shaikh against his removal from the post, a division bench struck down the transfer notification and ordered him to resume his duty.

The AG, represented by Advocate Ali Asad Billo, assailed the legality of the establishment division notification that removed him from the post.

He had impleaded the secretaries of the establishment and finance divisions, the auditor general of Pakistan and controller general of accounts as respondents.

According to the petitioner, the establishment secretary and controller general of accounts issued a notification on July 15 removing him from the post and asking him to report to the office of the auditor general.

On July 16, he said, the respondents issued another notification for the appointment of another officer of the Pakistan Audit and Account Services Group to the post.

However, he said, both notifications were held in abeyance by the auditor general through an order issued on July 16.

The petitioner said he was appointed to the post by the auditor general on May 9, 2013, adding that as per the relevant laws and service rules, the establishment secretary and controller general of accounts did not have powers to issue a notification for his transfer as those powers were vested only with the auditor general.

He asked the court to declare both notifications as illegal and direct the relevant authorities to refrain from issuing such unlawful notifications.

The bench headed by Justice Muneeb Akhtar ruled that the controller general of accounts did not have the authority to make transfers and postings as those powers rested with the auditor general.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2014