LAHORE, April 12: The Lahore High Court on Saturday sought reply from the Punjab agriculture department secretary on a contempt petition.

Issuing notice to the secretary, it also called for a reply from the secretary for not complying with the court order. The court directed Additional Advocate-General Akbar Tarar to ensure the compliance of the order.

Petitioner Faiz Ahmad of Bhakkar submitted that he remained an employee of the agriculture department for nine years, but was terminated from service instead of being regularized.

The Lahore High Court had on April 27, 2002, directed the secretary to resolve the grievance of Faiz and submit a report. The secretary has failed to comply with the court order so far.

He requested the court to take notice and initiate action against the secretary.—APP