ISLAMABAD: The sacked chairman of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), Chaudhry Rashid Ahmed, on Thursday filed a contempt of court petition against the officials of the ministry of information and broadcasting for inviting applications to fill the post.

Mr Ahmed said since he had challenged his dismissal and the matter was pending with the Islamabad High Court (IHC), the advertisement was tantamount to contempt of the court.

The information ministry had advertised the post on July 23 and asked the interested candidates to submit applications by August 15.

The post fell vacant on April 17 after the government removed Mr Ahmed for the second time.

President sacks Pemra chairman

Earlier, he was dismissed on December 15 and Rao Tehsin was made as the acting chairman of Pemra.

However, Mr Ahmed challenged his dismissal and the appointment of the acting chairman in the IHC which restored him in April.

In his judgment, Justice Noorul Haq N. Qureshi observed that the government had not adopted a proper procedure to dismiss Mr Ahmed.

The government again sacked Mr Ahmed on April 17. A notification in this regard said President Mamnoon Hussain had removed Mr Ahmed in the light of the IHC judgment.

The government then appointed Pervez Rathore as the acting Pemra chairman. The IHC, however, suspended Mr Rathore on July 15. The government filed a review petition against the suspension of Mr Rathore but later withdrew it, saying the matter would be challenged in the Supreme Court.

The advertisement was placed in newspapers after the IHC suspended the notification for the appointment of Mr Rathore.

Rana Mohammad Shamim, senior Pemra counsel, said the government could advertise the post in order to initiate the process for making the appointment in a transparent manner.

Published in Dawn, July 25th , 2014