ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday restored Dr Basharat Hassan Bashir as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB).

On June 23, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui had declared the appointment of Dr Bashir as illegal.

Salman Malik, a deputy director AEDB, and Mohammad Ali, a citizen, in their separate petitions had challenged the appointment. According to the petitions, the appointment of Dr Bashir was made in violation of the rules which had adversely affected the promotion of junior officials.

Following the court order, the AEDB management de-notified the appointment of Dr Bashir.

However, Dr Bashir through his counsel Arfat Ahmed and Kashifa Niaz challenged his sacking before the division bench.

Single bench had declared illegal the appointment of Dr Basharat Hassan

On Monday, the two-member division bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice Mohammad Anwar Khan Kasi and Justice Noorul Haq N. Qureshi, suspended the June 23 order of Justice Siddiqui and the de-notification of Dr Bashir.

It may be noted that last year the IHC division bench restored Zaka Ashraf as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) whose appointment was also declared illegal by the single bench.

In the recent case, the IHC division bench provided temporary relief to Dr Bashir and sought comments from the ministry of water and power.

His counsel adopted before the court that the single bench without granting proper opportunity of hearing to the appellant announced the order on June 23.

He said on that day due to the blockade of roads in connection with the arrival of Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri at Islamabad airport, he could not attend the court proceedings.

The counsel claimed that the appellant was the only foreign qualified alternative energy specialist at the AEDB and had 29 years national and international experience.

He also stated the AEDB’s board appointed the appellant in 2006 as a consultant and elevated him as the CEO in 2013. The petition contended that the AEDB had been empowered to appoint its officers, experts, advisers and consultants.

It added that some objections were raised by the auditors during the financial year 2007-08 and 2008-09 about the appointment of the appellant but these were later dropped.

The audit objections against the appellant were never included in the final report placed before the president of Pakistan.

In May 2009, the then CEO of AEDB, Arif Alauddin, submitted a summary to the ministry of water and power and sought the interference of the federal government regarding the appointment of the appellant.

After repatriation of Alauddin to his parent department, the appellant, who was then serving as a consultant and director general, was given the additional charge of CEO on June 11, 2013. The petition requested the court to set aside the June 23 order of Justice Siddiqui and the subsequent order of the AEDB regarding the de-notification of Dr Bashir.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd , 2014