ISLAMABAD: A three-judge committee of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) sacked the IHC registrar and demoted the secretary and protocol officer to the sitting chief justice along with other senior officials after finding their appointments and promotions illegal.

The committee, consisting of Justice Noorul Haq N. Qureshi, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui and Justice Athar Minallah, in the first stage of the scrutiny of the cases of recruitments, promotions and upgradations of the court officials set aside the notifications issued by Chief Justice (CJ) Mohammad Anwar Khan Kasi for appointing and promoting his confidants and personal staff.

These officials included IHC registrar Atiqur Rehman, secretary to the CJ Mohammad Sohail, protocol officer Mohammad Shoaib Atique, assistant Farzana Bahadur and khateeb Mohammad Shahid.

According to a notification issued by the IHC Additional Registrar Amer Saleem Rana on Monday, “in pursuance of judgment dated September 26, 2016 passed by Supreme Court of Pakistan…the committee of this court has been pleased to de-notify the notification of June 7, 2016, regarding contract employment of Atiqur Rehman as registrar of this court with immediate effect.”


Three-judge committee sets aside notifications issued by CJ Mohammad Anwar Khan Kasi after finding the appointments illegal


A Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim, on Sept 26 constituted the three-member committee to examine the cases of all appointments and promotions made in the IHC since 2011.

The committee was directed to submit its report within a month.

As per the SC judgment, the reappointment of an official after their retirement was illegal. “Any person appointed on contract basis against a permanent vacancy or against a promotion post is violative of the spirit of the rule and untenable, and should be de-notified.”

Chief Justice Kasi of the IHC reappointed Mr Rehman on June 7 this year and allowed him to draw his pension as well in addition to notifying his salary equivalent to that of a BPS-22 officer.

The second high-profile case examined by the committee related to the promotion of Mohammad Sohail, the secretary to Justice Kasi.

Mr Sohail, said to be the most influential official of the IHC, has been working with Justice Kasi as a private secretary (BPS-18) since January 2011.

He was promoted to BPS-19 in 2012 and after Justice Kasi was elevated as the CJ in February 2013, Mr Sohail was given another promotion to BPS-20 the same month. The committee set aside the notification related to the promotion and reverted him to the post of private secretary in BPS-18.

In another case, the committee examined the unprecedented promotion of Mohammad Shoaib Atique, the protocol officer to Justice Kasi.

As per the notification, which the committee ordered to be de-notified, Mr Shoaib was appointed as a lower division clerk in BPS-7 in 2013 and the same year was promoted nine steps above and given the charge of the assistant protocol officer in BPS-16.

In another case, the committee demoted IHC khateeb Mohammad Shahid from BPS-17 to his previous pay scale in BPS-10 in which he had been appointed in 2011. Justice Kasi on May 13, 2014, had upgraded the post of khateeb to BPS-17.

On Sept 26, Justice Hani of the SC declared that “up-gradation is not envisaged under the Rules and is contrary to the established principles of service laws.”

The committee, however, dismissed Farzana Bahadur, assistant (BPS-14), working in the IHC as it observed that her appointment was also made in violation of the rules. The incumbent chief justice of the IHC had appointed Ms Bahadur on May 3, 2014.

Likewise, the three-judge committee demoted Yasir Altaf from BPS-17 to BPS-14. He was working as a data processing officer and his post was upgraded in 2011 by the then IHC chief justice, Iqbal Hameedur Rehman.

Justice Rehman tendered his resignation on September 23, days after the secretary general IHC bar association, Mohammad Waqas Malik, filed a reference against him for making the illegal appointments in the IHC.

The apex court in its landmark judgment on Sept 26 observed that the appointments in the IHC had been done in “cherry-picking” manner and was an example of “abusing the authority”.

Following the judgment, the secretary general IHC bar association filed the reference against Justice Kasi with the Supreme Judicial Council. In addition to the reference, Justice Kasi is facing at least two other references filed by advocates Rana Abid Nazir and Anees Jilani.

Eminent lawyer Asma Jahangir on Monday welcomed the resignation of Justice Rehman saying the move had enhanced public confidence in the judiciary and others should also follow his footsteps.

Talking to mediapersons at the IHC barroom, Ms Jahangir without naming anyone said another sitting judge should also resign.

She demanded the SJC allow the media to cover its proceedings on the references against judges of the superior courts.

Apart from the judges, she said, lawyers should also be held accountable and the bar associations should make disciplinary committees more active and take appropriate action against them.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2016

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