ISLAMABAD: The appointment of Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor as the managing director of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) has been challenged in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and the first hearing of the case will take place on Monday (today).

Mr Ghafoor’s predecessor, Chaudhry Kabir, was removed from the post by the IHC in a case similar to the one against him.

According to sources, ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif gave green signal for the appointment of Mr Ghafoor in September last year after which the PTDC’s board appointed him for a period of three months.

They said according to the procedure the government was required to advertise the post after three months but nothing was done in this regard.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Ghafoor said he did not know who had challenged his appointment but he would appear before the court on Monday to face the case.

“My appointment was completely legal and all codal formalities for it were fulfilled, he claimed.

He said that he was appointed by the government of Mr Sharif and that he had pledged at that time that he would not receive salary and other perks and privileges and would serve the corporation as a service to the nation.

Mr Ghafoor said he had vowed to take the crippling PTDC out of crisis and would take measures to revive its status as the country’s premier tourism development body.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2017