PESHAWAR: The recently-removed chief executive officer of Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco), Gul Nabi Syed, on Saturday filed a contempt petition in the Peshawar High Court seeking proceedings against the federal secretary energy and three other officials for replacing him despite its stay order.

The petitioner stated that on Jan 12 a bench of the high court had sought comments from the secretary and director general of the ministry for energy (power division) in a petition filed by him and had ordered them to maintain status quo in the matter.

However, he stated that the chief engineer of Islamabad Electric Company (Iesco), Arif Mehmood Sadozai, managed issuance of a notification the same day by the government and got himself posted as CEO Pesco.

The petitioner in his main petition had claimed that the federal government had moved a summary for installing the chief engineer of Iesco, Arif Mehmood Sadozai, belonging to Dera Ismail Khan, as Pesco’s CEO on political grounds.

He had requested the court to declare the move of the government to replace him as illegal.

Requests PHC to initiate proceedings against federal secretary, others

A two-member bench consisting of Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Abdul Shakoor had fixed Jan 26 for the next hearing into the petition and directed the energy ministry (power division) to maintain status quo on the matter until then.

However, the same day the energy ministry issued a notification assigning Mr Sadozai to look after the charge of the Pesco chief executive officer as a stop-gap arrangement purely on temporary basis with immediate effect and until further orders.

The contempt petition is filed through advocate Ghulam Mohyuddin Malik.

The respondents in the petition are: Arif Mehmood Sadozai, DG to the minister for energy (power division), Ghulam Rasool Dumki, secretary ministry of energy (power division), Rashid Mehmood Langrial and a section officer of the ministry of energy (power division), Mohammad Hassan Khan.

The petitioner claimed that Mr Sadozai in collusion with other ‘contemnors’ hurriedly at late night hours came to the Pesco Headquarter Peshawar and broke open the locks of the CEO office and forcibly and unlawfully entered there.

He claimed that the action so taken in violation of law and rules by respondent No. 1 (Mr Sadozai) tantamount to criminal offence and also liable to be proceeded against departmentally for committing the offence of intimidation.

He alleged that the respondent had taken over the charge of the office at midnight without observing the prescribed procedure and codal formalities.

He contended that the notification of appointing Mr Sadozai had not been issued in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act, 2017, and rules framed thereunder.

The petitioner requested the court to initiate contempt proceedings against the respondents and award them exemplary punishment and also to restore him to his previous position.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2023