LAHORE, Nov 6: A lawyer has challenged in the Lahore High Court the appointment of Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) chairperson Rahat Kaunain.

Advocate Asif Mirza has filed the petition which said Ms Kaunain was earlier working as member of the CCP and later appointed as its chairperson. Being a partner in her own law firm, he said, Ms Kaunain had been referring a number of clients from the commission to her own firm and was thus misusing her official status for personal gains.

He stated that the respondent held a public office according to section 5(1)(m) of the National Accountability Ordinance of 1999 and her action fell within the ambit of the definition of “corrupt practices”.

The petitioner-lawyer further alleged that Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer played a pivotal role in the appointment of the respondent as CCP chairperson.

He said the respondent even violated the prime minister's directive and regulations with regard to public procurement regulatory authority and disbursed a bulk amount of Rs9.6 million to the commission's legal counsel in 2009 and that too without the approval of the Ministry of Law.

He alleged that out of the said amount, Rs6 million were paid to former attorney

general Malik Muhammad Qayyum despite the fact that he was not present in the country at that time. Even otherwise, the licence of Malik Qayyum as an advocate had been suspended and he was unable to appear in courts of the country and the amount was a sunk cost for the CCP.

The law ministry did not approve the disbursement of public money, he said, adding that even the finance ministry failed to notice the misuse of such a staggering amount and had not taken any action in the matter.

Advocate Mirza requested the court to declare her appointment illegal and a result of connivance and collusion, and direct the authorities not to reappoint her as CCP chairperson.