The first meeting of the newly established Executive Council of Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) reappointed Zubair Habib as the head of the CPLC for the next three years, it emerged on Wednesday.

He previously served as CPLC chief as well, being appointed in October 2015 when its board accepted the resignation of former chief Ahmed Chinoy and appointed Habib in his place.

“The Sindh home minister in consultation with the executive council directed the CPLC chief Zubair Habib to continue his position,” said an official statement issued today.

Habib told Dawn.com that previously, the CPLC worked under the police rules. The Sindh Assembly had passed the Police Act in 2019 under which the CPLC was declared as a statutory body, under which its new configuration was required.

Previously, the Sindh governor was the head of the advisory council, but now the home minister would be its chairman. Similarly, the home minister would be the head of the executive council, whose members included the home secretary, law secretary, inspector general (IG) of police, public safety commission secretary and the CPLC chief.

The operational head of the CPLC would be its chief, who would be nominated by the Executive Council (EC). Habib said it was the first meeting of the EC, which appointed him as the CPLC head for the next three years.

The meeting also appointed five members from the private sector. They included former additional IG Saleem Vahidy, businessman Ziad Bashir, Advocate Qurban Ali Malano, Panjwani Foundation chairperson Nadira Panjwani and businessman Saqib Sheerazi. The participants of the meeting also established a “finance committee” and Shabbar Malik was appointed as deputy chief of the CPLC for operations.

Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar gave instructions to submit recommendations for increasing financial help to the CPLC for the financial year of 2025-26.

Lanjar said Sindh was the only province where the CPLC had been established and worked successfully. He termed it as an example of “public-private partnership for fighting against crimes and redressing grievances of the people”.

The minister directed the CPLC chief to expand its network in upper Sindh, saying that the provincial government would help in the provision of its office and resources.

In September last year, retired Justice Nazar Akbar tendered his resignation from the office of the CPLC EC chairman in protest over the “illegal” continuation of the CPLC chief for the past five years without any official notification from the home department.

The former judge of the Supreme Court and the Sindh High Court had sent his resignation letter, along with detailed reasons behind his decision, to the chief minister. According to the letter, Justice Akbar had informed the chief minister that Habib was continuing to “illegally” hold the office for the last nine years for the third consecutive term.