ISLAMABAD: The appointments of the entire board of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), including Chairman retired Capt Anwarul Haq, have been challenged in Islamabad High Court (IHC).

CDA Union leader Amanullah Khan filed a petition against the appointments of Mr Haq, a BS-20 officer of Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), Tahir Naeem Akhtar, a BS-19 officer of Pakistan Audit and Accounts Service (PA&AS) as member (finance), Talat Mehmood, BS-19 officer of PAS, as member (administration), Tariq Salam, a BS-19 officer of PAS, member (estate), Mohammad Khalid Hafiz, a BS-19 officer of the government of Punjab as member (engineering), Sadia Haider, BS-19 officer of PAS as member (planning), Shahzad Khalil, BS-19 officer of PAS as member (environment), and Nauman Khalid of PAS as member technology and digitisation.

When IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq took up the petition, Advocate Kashif Ali Malik, counsel for the petitioner, argued that the appointments of the chairman and the board members were made in a non-transparent manner, violating the provision of the 1960 CDA ordinance and in contradiction to the landmark judgement of 2017 authored by then CJ Justice Athar Minallah.

Petition says appointments made in non-transparent manner, violating CDA ordinance and landmark IHC judgement of 2017

He said the Supreme Court in the case of State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan vs the director general Military Lands and Cantonment Rawalpindi had held that when “the statute requires a public functionary to act in a particular manner it must act in that manner and the courts have all the power to see as to whether he acted in that manner or not.”

He claimed that the appointments of the board members, having no relevant qualifications or expertise, had been made by the Cabinet Division in blatant disregard to the provisions of the law.

The petition stated that the incumbent chairman serving as the chief commissioner Islamabad was an ex-officio member of the CDA board, adding he had no relevant qualification or expertise in town planning and his appointment was in violation of the IHC judgement.

It stated that Ms Haider, the member planning, was not a town planner or civil engineer and despite being in BS-19 was appointed to head the directorate in which BS-20 officers were already working. They have been made subordinate to a junior officer.

Mr Khalil, the member environment, is not an environmentalist and he also supervises senior officers in BS-20.

The members finance, engineering and technology also do not have the required qualifications and expertise to head the directorates, the petition added.

It said any appointment without first framing the profile and a comparative evaluation was termed favoritism and nepotism.

Most of the officers tend to join the CDA on deputation to secure lucrative plots as the civic agency has framed a policy according to which its employees, including the chairman, members and officials on deputation, qualify for plots after serving six months in the authority.

The petition requested the court to declare the appointments of the CDA chairman and members illegal.

The court issued notices to the secretaries Cabinet, Establishment Divisions, the CDA chairman and members and sought their reply in a fortnight.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2023