ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) restrained on Wednesday the chairman of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), Saeed Ahmed Khan, from resuming official duties after the government filed an appeal against his reinstatement.

Additional Attorney General Afnan Karim Kundi requested Justice Noorul Haq N. Qureshi to suspend his judgment of March 17 in which the judge had declared as illegal the order to send the Ogra chief on ‘forced leave’. On Feb 11, the cabinet division had sent Mr Khan on ‘forced leave’ for his alleged role in the recent oil crisis and requested the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) to conduct an inquiry against him.

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Ogra member Amir Nasim was assigned additional charge of the chairman’s office. But when Mr Khan informed the court that Mr Nasim too was facing an inquiry before the FPSC, the charge was given to cabinet division secretary Babar Yaqoob.

Advocate Kundi argued before a two-member IHC bench that Mr Khan had challenged the notification about Mr Nasim but had not sought any order against grant of acting charge of Ogra chairman’s office to Mr Yaqoob. He pointed out that Justice Qureshi in his order had not set aside the notification about Mr Yaqoob.

He said the inquiry against Mr Khan could not be deemed transparent if he remained in office because in such a case he would be the custodian of the record that might be produced against him as evidence.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2015

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