ISLAMABAD: As the pri­ncipal law officer of the cou­ntry gave an assurance to withdraw the notification for termination of the Kar­achi Port Trust chairman’s services, the Islamabad High Court on Thursday disposed of the matter with an observation that the federal government would not interfere in the KPT’s domain.

Retired Rear Admiral Jamil Akhtar had filed a petition in the IHC against the termination of his contract. He was appointed KPT chairman in November 2017 for a fixed tenure of three years, which will expire in November this year.

At a previous hearing, the court was informed that during an audit of the KPT accounts, private auditors had pointed out several irre­gularities which led to termination of Mr Akhtar.

According to court’s rec­ord, the minister for maritime affairs had appointed the private auditors to conduct the audit of the KPT.

Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan appeared be­­fore the court on Thursday and said he was in the process of recommending to the federal government to withdraw the impugned notification. He said he further intended to advise the government to proceed strictly in accordance with the provisions of the KPT Act, as well as the principles of procedural fairness and due process embedded in Article 10-A of the Constitution.

Ashtar Ausaf, Raja Zahoorul Hassan and Agha Mohammad Ali, the counsel for the KPT chairman, said that keeping in view the fair and just interpretation of the law by the attorney general, the grievance of their client stood addressed.

“In view of the above, the instant petition is disposed of while recording appreciation for the fair stance taken by the learned Attorney General for Pakistan. It is noted that the impugned notifications shall remain suspended till the advice of the learned Attorney Gen­eral for Pakistan is considered by the Federal Govern­ment and a decision is taken accordingly,” the court said in its order.

The court, however, asked Mr Akhtar that he “would be at liberty to file an application for restoration of the petition in the event that the advice of the learned Attor­ney General for Pakistan is not acted upon by the Federal Government”.

The court also allowed the federal government to proceed in accordance with the law if there is any allegation against Mr Akhtar. “The court further expects that the affairs of the Trust will be dealt with by the Federal Government in accordance with its statutory powers and that there will be no unauthorised interference in violation of the explicit provisions of the Act of 1886,” the order said.

KPT union’s pleas rejected

Chief Justice Minallah rejected the petitions filed by the KPT union and a retired official who intended to become a party in the case.

The order said: “The private individuals — petitioner No.1 claims to be the general secretary of one of the registered unions of employees of the Trust while the other is a retired employee. Perusal of the contents of the memorandum of their petition, prima facie, raises questions regarding bona fides of the petitioners and appears to be an attempt to prejudice the proceedings in the instant petition.

“Moreover, both the individuals cannot be treated as aggrieved persons. A registered trade union or a notified Collective Bargaining Agent under the Industrial Relations Act, 2011 are bound by its provisions and their role is confined to matters explicitly described by the legislature,” the order stated.

“It is noted that courts while exercising constitutional jurisdiction jealously guard against abuse of its process. Moreover, maintaining discipline within statutory organisations and discouraging scandalous and frivolous litigation are relevant factors for determining maintainability of a constitutional petition. Despite the able assistance of the learned counsel, he has not been able to persuade this court that the petition was filed for bona fide reasons,” the order said.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2020