PESHAWAR, Sept 7: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday put on notice Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s brother in a writ petition challenging his appointment as project director in the Commissionerate of Afghan Refugees (CAR). A two-judge bench comprising Justice Shehzad Akber Khan and Justice Saleem Khan ordered that the respondent, Ziaur Rehman, should be positively served.

The bench fixed Sept 28 for next hearing of the writ petition filed by Major (retd) Fayyaz Durrani, who was replaced as project director (Repatriation), CAR, by Mr Ziaur Rehman, brother of Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

The petitioner has stated that the appointment of Mr Zia was politically motivated.

The high court has already admitted the writ petition for full hearing in last June. The ministry of State and Frontier Region (SAFRON), which is also respondent in the petition, has also conceded in its comments that the appointment of Mr Zia was against the prescribed rules and regulations. The ministry admitted that it had not given any approval for replacement of the petitioner.

The petitioner has challenged the March 28 order issued by the NWFP chief secretary whereby Mr Zia was appointed as project director (Repatriation), a lucrative post in the commissionerate.

At the very outset of the proceedings on Wednesday, the additional advocate general, Arbab Usman, requested the bench to adjourn the hearing as he needed some time to consult the provincial government regarding the issue.

The petitioner’s counsel, Waqar Ahmad Seth, requested the bench to fix a date for hearing the petition as it had been lingering on for the last many months.

Mr Seth contended that the petitioner was serving against a post funded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and he could not be replaced with the order of the chief secretary. He stated that the respondent (Mr Zia) had been serving as assistant engineer in the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and was attached with the NWFP government on deputation.

The petitioner has claimed that a ‘depotationist’ could not be appointed against the post of project director (Repatriation).