An Islamabad High Court (IHC) division bench on Thursday suspended an earlier order for the removal of retired Major-General Hafeezur Rehman from his post as the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) chairperson.

The bench, comprising Justices Muhammad Asif and Inaam Ameen Minhas, had taken up Rehman’s intra-court appeal against the earlier ruling, issued by Justice Babar Sattar on Tuesday, which had ordered the PTA chief’s removal over his “illegal” appointment to the position.

In his order, on a plea filed by digital rights activist Usama Khilji in 2023, Justice Sattar had ruled that the creation of a post for Member (Administration) in the PTA, and the subsequent appointment of Rehman as PTA chairman, were “unconstitutional, illegal and void ab initio”.

His decision had been challenged by Rehman within hours of it being announced.

Today, Advocate Qasim Wadud appeared as the counsel for the PTA chairman, while Additional Attorney General (AAG) Salman Mansoor also presented his arguments.

At the outset of the hearing, Mansoor contended that “relief which was not even sought in the petition had been granted” in Justice Sattar’s order.

“Neither were the rules challenged nor was a notice issued to the attorney general. Issuing a notice to the attorney general was necessary,” he argued.

The AAG further argued that a request not sought in a petition could not be considered under Article 199 (jurisdiction of high court) of the Constitution.

“The court itself stated that the entire argument was not complete yet,” Mansoor claimed.

Addressing the PTA chairman’s lawyer, Justice Asif remarked, “You were given enough opportunity.”

Wadud then came to the rostrum and said, “It was questioned in the writ petition that the appointment of PTA chairman could not be made [as] the vacancy was wrongly advertised.

“[But] the rules had been changed and the [federal] cabinet had given the approval, following which the appointment was made,” he contended.

“The rules had been amended on March 25, [2023], after which the petition was filed,” the counsel added.

The court subsequently suspended the previous IHC ruling that ordered the immediate removal of the PTA chairman.

Recruitment process ‘suffered fr­om malice in law’

The earlier judgement by Justice Sattar pointed out that the advertisement for the post, issued on March 28, 2023, had been published at a time when no such position legally existed. Later amendments to the PTA Appointment Rules in May 2023 were deemed insufficient to regularise the appointment process.

Justice Sattar observed that the recruitment process “suffered fr­om malice in law” and appeared to have been tailored to accommodate a specific individual. The prescription of a higher age limit of 61 years for the post, compared with 57 years for other members, was cit­ed as further proof of malafide intent.

The court had further held that the appointment of the retired army officer as PTA chairman without a transparent and objective selection process was “illegal, irrational and unsustainable in the eyes of law”.

The judge had ordered that the senior-most serving PTA member would temporarily assume the charge of the office of PTA chairman till such time as the federal government appointed a regular chairman.