LAHORE: The Lahore High Court chief justice on Wednesday set aside the appointment of Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Director General Dr Javed Iqbal for being made in violation of rules.

A local leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Zubair Niazi, had challenged the appointment through a writ petition. Petitioner’s counsel Sheraz Zaka had argued that the impugned appointment was made in sheer violation of the service rules by the chief minister. He said the director general must have passed the exams of civil services or provincial management services but the incumbent officer did not fulfill the criteria laid down in the rules.

The respondent officer also lacked relevant experience and had been previously technical adviser in the provincial housing department, Advocate Zaka said and added there was also an inquiry pending against the respondent with the National Accountability Bureau regarding purchase of equipment for EPA laboratory in Multan.

The counsel asked the court to annul the appointment of the EPA DG and stop him immediately from functioning.

Assistant Advocate General Ahmad Hasan defended the impugned appointment and said Mr Iqbal was a competent officer and possessed a PhD degree. He said a summary had been forwarded to the chief minister for restructuring in the EPA. Therefore, he asked the court to defer the matter for three weeks.

EPA Director Implementation and Monitoring Laboratories Tauqir Qureshi admitted before court that the incumbent DG had not passed CSS or PMS examination. He revealed that in a recent meeting with the chief minister he raised the matter of alleged corruption in the department and the chief executive vowed to look into it personally.

Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah observed that every appointment should be made on merit adding that the EPA had been under regulatory capture for the past few years and not functional in its true spirit. The chief justice allowed the petition setting aside the impugned appointment and restraining Dr Javed Iqbal from working forthwith.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2016

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