HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Sindh High Court on Tuesday suspended the Dec 1 interim order passed by a single-judge bench on a matter pertaining to the termination of services of Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) chief executive officer Rehan Hamid.

The bench comprising Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi and Ms Rashida Asad passed the order on the appeal filed by Hesco against the Dec 1 order. It fixed the matter for Dec 14.

On Dec 1, the single-judge bench had suspended operation of two notifications dated Nov 26 under which Rehan Hamid was removed as the Hesco CEO and Noor Ahmed Soomro was appointed in his place. The order was passed on a suit filed by respondent Rehan Hamid.

Syed Haider Imam Rizvi, the counsel for appellant Hesco, argued that the suit filed by Rehan Hamid seeking declaration of permanent injunctions and damages was not maintainable on account of jurisdiction.

He submitted that there was a relationship of masters and servant between the appellant (Hesco) and Rehan Hamid and, therefore, relief of reinstatement could not be granted whereas impugned notification was already acted upon.

He stated that a new Hesco CEO had taken over the charge, and contended that the Dec 1 order was obtained through misrepresentation of facts whereas interim relief granted to respondent was contrary to law and judgements of superior courts in this regard.

He recalled that superior courts had held that in case of master and servant, relief of damages could be claimed alone and employee could not be reinstated in service.

The counsel submitted that the impugned notifications were suspended without hearing the other party. The appellant prayed that the impugned order be suspended as an anomaly was created. The court issued pre admission notice to respondents for Dec 14.

Hesco has in its appeal argued that during tenure of respondent Rehan Hamid, an unfortunate incident occurred on July 22, 2021 in Latifabad Unit-8 in which many precious lives were lost and many others were injured. He said that as the CEO, he failed to discharge his duties and obligations efficiently.

Advocate Rizvi argued that the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) issued show-cause notice to the CEO on Aug 9 but he failed to deal with matter professionally, leading to the imposition of a penalty of Rs26m against Hesco by Nepra. He said due to the CEO’s inefficiency, Hesco not only suffered financial losses but faced an embarrassing situation.

The counsel claimed that the CEO was found to have been looking for avenues for his personal gains in terms of financial aspects and public image.

He said that Hesco’s board of governor approved termination of the CEO’s employment contract by respondent ministry and formalities under Public Sector Companies Rules 2017 were complied with by the competent authority. He said CEO’s suit was barred under relevant Act.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2021