KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has suspended a notification about the appointment of the chairman of the Sindh TextBook Board (STBB).

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi also issued notices to the Sindh chief secretary as well as the provincial law officer for a date to be fixed later by the court office.

It said that the impugned notification, issued on Jan 1 to notify the appointment of Agha Sohail Pathan as the STBB chairman, would remain suspended till the next hearing.

Petitioner Pervez Baloch challenged the notification regarding appointment of Mr Pathan, an officer of Ex-PCS (BS-19), stating that he was the incumbent chairman of STBB and a notification about his appointment was issued in May last year after the approval of the cabinet for a period of three years.

Petitioner’s counsel argues that Sohail Pathan was appointed without cabinet’s approval

Petitioner’s lawyer Zamir Ghumro argued that the appointment of Mr Pathan was made without the approval of the cabinet and in violation of Section 4 of the Sindh Textbook Board Ordinance 1970.

He pleaded to declare the impugned notification illegal, void and ab-initio.

The bench in its order noted that the counsel for the petitioner had referred to Section 4 of the ordinance, which said that the chairman and other members shall hold the office for a period of three years and also eligible for re-appointment for one or more such terms.

“Till the next date of hearing, the impugned notification for appointment of respondent No.4 as chairman of the Sindh Textbook Board shall remain suspended,” the court order said.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2022