LAHORE, June 21: In clear violation of its own rules and orders of the Supreme Court, the water and power ministry on Thursday granted “extension in service till further order” to the Lahore Electric Supply Company chief executive officer, barely 48 hours after he was retired formally.

What puts a question mark on the decision is the fact that in case of a BS-20 or above officer only the prime minister is competent authority to grant an extension.

Though the ministry issued the notification in the name of ‘Competent Authority (the prime minister), it perhaps forgot there was no prime minister in the country on Thursday after Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani’s disqualification by a three-member Supreme Court bench on Tuesday.

Incumbent Lesco CEO Sharafat Sial got retired on Tuesday (19-06-12) after attaining the age of superannuation. The ministry duly appointed Ahsan Elahi – a general manager in the company – on current charge basis the same day and the new CEO took charge of his office.

By the evening, Lesco Board of Directors met and verified the appointment – a procedural formality to complete the process.

The ministry was duly informed by the Lesco (A-III-1(255)/2012-CEO) about assuming of the charge by the new CEO.

However, on Thursday, within 48 hours of the first order and exchange of charge, the ministry issued another order, withdrawing the first one ab initio.

However, within the next few hours, another order followed, saying: “The Competent Authority has allowed Sharafat Ali Sial to continue as Chief Executive Officer of Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) w.e.f 20-06-12 till further order.”

It left everyone, including the Lesco Board of Directors, confused.

“The new order has a lot of legal lacunae,” says Rafay Alam – the Lesco BoD chairman.

To start with, he says, there is no competent authority (prime minister) in the country at this point of time. In the absence of the chief executive of the country, who is the Competent Authority? We need to know. There is also no federal cabinet.

He says even if the PM issued orders before his sacking, the Supreme Court has held all his orders after April 26 null and void.

The board needs these clarifications before moving in any direction, he adds saying: “They will be sought from the ministry in the morning before members make up their mind on the issue.”

“There is no extension in service orders in the first place to back up his continuation as the Lesco CEO,” says an official of the ministry. But the ministry was told to issue the orders and do so with retrospective effect, he concluded.

“The competent authority in this case is the prime minister,” says Ghulam Nabi Mangrio – the ministry joint secretary – who issued the Thursday orders.

The summary pertaining to the extension in service of Mr Sial was with the Prime Minister’s Secretariat and the ministry received it on Thursday. It thus issued the order accordingly, he claimed.