ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court, after realising that its Nov 14 verdict has raised questions about appointment of heads of important government organisations through a commission, asked the attorney general on Wednesday to help determine the fate of such appointments.

“We need to issue a notice to AG Salman Aslam Butt to clarify the situation since a question has arisen about the fate of those officials who were appointed through the commission since the condition of the commission has been reviewed,” Chief Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk said.

Through the Nov 14 judgment, the court had revisited its June 12, 2013 verdict which called for setting up a federal commission to ensure that all public appointments were made on the basis of merit. The verdict had been issued on a petition filed by federal minister Khawaja Asif, when he was in the opposition, and culminated in outlining a procedure by the court on the appointment of heads of statutory, autonomous, semi-autonomous and regulatory bodies through the commission.

But the Nov 14 judgment dispensed with the criteria of the commission by categorically stating that the federal government had the exclusive authority to appoint heads of the institutions on the basis of merit under the acts/ordinances wherein criteria has been laid down for the appointments.

It noted that appointments had been made through the commission only in the Pakistan Telecommuni­cation Authority, Pakistan Television Corporation and the Pakistan Steel Mills while 22 statutory bodies and 33 public sector companies established under the Companies Ordinance 1984 were still without heads.

The judgment directed the government to appoint heads of the statutory bodies and the companies by the end of Dec 2014 since there was no impediment now in the process.

The issue cropped up on Wednesday when a three-member bench was hearing an appeal of Managing Director of the PTV Corporation, Mohammad Malick, against the Feb 27 Islamabad High Court (IHC) verdict of declaring his appointment illegal.

The IHC verdict had come on a petition opposing the appointment of Mr Malick on the ground that it had not been made under the rules governing the PTV Corporation and the Companies Ordinance 1984, which required that the PTV head should be chosen on the recommendations of the its board of directors.

Advocate Akram Sheikh, representing Mr Malick, informed the Supreme Court that his client had been appointed by the prime minister on the recommendation of the commission constituted under the Khawaja Asif case judgment. He argued that the case of Mr Malick had been referred to the commission to avoid allegations that the government had appointed its favourite official as PTV MD.

The counsel said that the judgement in the Khawaja Asif case had paralysed the system of government appointments.

“A question has arisen whether appointments made by the commission but not in accordance with the Companies Ordinance will be saved, particularly when the June 2013 judgment of the Supreme Court has been revisited,” the chief justice observed.

The next date of hearing will be fixed later by the court.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2014