SC reinstates Najam Sethi as PCB Chairman

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) has restored Najam Sethi as the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) while the court has suspended the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) decision to reinstate Zaka Ashraf as the head, Geo News reported on Wednesday.

The court has also ordered to restore the administrating committee of the PCB.

It may be mentioned here that the IHC had reinstated Ashraf Zaka as PCB chairman on May 17 after which the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination had challenged the IHC decision in SC on Tuesday.

On May 17, Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi of the IHC suspended the management committee appointed by the prime minister, being the Patron-in-Chief of the PCB, and reinstated Zaka Ashraf as the chairman of the cricket board.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on 10th February this year sacked Ashraf and appointed a committee chaired by Najam Sethi to oversee the cricketing matters. Asma Jehangir, former president of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), filed the petition on behalf of the Ministry under Article 185(3) of the Constitution for leave to appeal against the IHC judgment.

The petitioner made Arbab Altaf Hussain, member Scrutiny Committee PCB, and Brig (R) Sajjad Hameed, Director HR and Administration, as respondents.

Asma questioned how the single bench of IHC “illegally” assumed jurisdiction as neither the respondent No1 Arbab Altaf Hussain was a resident of Islamabad nor were the honorary services of Arbab hired or terminated in Islamabad. She said even the principal office of PCB is not in Islamabad, adding of the 25 petitions heard by IHC, none of petitioner lived in Islamabad but they were from Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and Punjab.

The petitioner submitted that the impugned judgment has mixed up the notion of natural justice with the maintainability of a petition filed by an employee whose employment is regulated through non-statutory rules.

The IHC judgment has assumed that the management committee (MC) was not authorised to initiate long-term decisions as the preamble to SRO No 4-14/2008. IPC-S-11 clearly depicts the mind of the Patron in appointing MC. The MC had undertaken serious reforms in drafting constitution and submitting the same to the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination.

The petitioner contended that Chairman Zaka Ashraf with a dysfunctional Board started his vendetta against professionals associated with the PCB. This has been a regular pattern and PCB cannot be allowed to be treated as a personal fiefdom of any Board of Governors or its chairman.

The IHC judgment has created a situation that will have long-term detrimental effect on PCB if not reversed promptly and it will ruin the game of cricket, the petitioner said, adding that the judgment has not only annulled the notification dated 10-02-2014 in utter violation of the judgments of the Supreme Court, but also struck down all acts, orders passed with long-term implications.

The judgment has throughout erroneously termed the MC, as interim MC, whereas the Patron had set up the MC to clean up the PCB. “The (IHC) judgment has struck a fatal blow to PCB and cricket, which will cost PCB heavily in terms of financial loss and credibility in international cricket.” the petitioner contended.

Earlier, the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination had filed an intra-court appeal (ICA) in the IHC for restoration of Najam Sethi. The IHC informed the petitioner in writing that no division bench was available and is not likely to be available for a considerable period of time to hear the ICA as there are three judges working at the court. One of the judges is the author of the impugned judgment and another is the author of judgment delivered in writ petition 2241/2013 that had initially dismissed Zaka Ashraf from office.

Zaheer Abbas named principal advisor to Chairman PCB

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed former Test cricketer Zaheer Abbas as the Principle Advisor to PCB Chairman and Moin Khan as Chief Selector and Manager of national cricket team.

Zaheer Abbas is a member of the Management Committee of the PCB and his new assignment of Principal Advisor is honorary, said a spokesman of the PCB here on Monday.

Moin has previously served as Manager & Coach of Pakistan cricket team. He will be on deputation from PIA to PCB. (APP)

Chairman PEMRA Chaudhry Rasheed sacked

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain has sacked chairman Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Chaudhry Rasheed, Geo News reported.

According to sources in the President House, President Mamnoon removed Chaudhry Rasheed as per the procedure chalked out by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

PM appoints Dr Mukhtar as HEC chairman, Pervez as HBFC MD

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday sprang a surprise by naming Dr Mukhtar Ahmed as the new chairperson of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), a position that remained vacant for eight months.

The premier also appointed Pervez Said as Managing Director (MD) of the House Building Finance Corporation (HBFC). Said has served as CEO of the Burj Bank, worked in the Meezan Bank, Johnson & Johnson and the City Bank.

The HEC chairperson’s appointment came after a string of twists and turns in the process of appointment for this important post. The office of the HEC chairman has been lying vacant since August 26, 2013 when the first term of Dr Javaid Laghari ended. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on January 6, 2014 directed the federal government to appoint a permanent HEC chairman till February 12, 2014 in accordance with the law and the prescribed process. In response, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif formed a search committee, chaired by Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal.

The call for applications resulted in some 103 applications. Among them, 18 candidates were called for interviews by the previous search committee on February 10-11, 2014. The committee chose three names including HEC Executive Director Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, National Textile University Faisalabad Rector Dr Niaz Ahmad and former Karakoram International University Vice Chancellor Dr Najma Najam.

The prime minister initially did not agree to the nominated names and reconstituted another six-member committee. The new committee decided to again conduct the interviews of the 18 short-listed candidates but the process was delayed and sources close to the new committee, shared with The News that the prime minister stopped the process till he listened to the justification for the selection of three names by the previous search committee.

Professor Dr Mukhtar Ahmed has been the executive director of HEC since February 2013. The HEC executive director serves as the chief executive officer of the organisation. He was also the principal accounting officer of the commission. Being the HEC ED, Dr Ahmed was responsible for the implementation of reforms initiated by the Government of Pakistan in higher education sector.

Before joining the HEC, Dr Ahmed was deputy director general of Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Isesco) in Rabat, Morocco, and was responsible for the Directorates of Education, Science, Culture and Communication, ICPSR, CPID (Planning and Strategic Division) and Isesco regional centres. He persuaded Isesco’s agenda in all OIC conferences, conventions, including the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers and also various ministerial conferences in specified various areas of Isesco’s mandate.

Dr Ahmed was also responsible for preparing short-term and long-term programmes, including three-year action plans for the Isesco. He was also the Editor-in-chief, Isesco Journal of Science and Technology.

With a Bachelor and Master of Science from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, and Masters in Business Administration and PhD from the University of California, Riverside, USA, he has over 25 years of educational development and management experience at national and international levels, including teaching, research, academic administration, policy development, linking educational research to industry, commercialisation, introducing entrepreneurial approaches to education and a diverse range of educational development programs.

His career is enriched with diverse academic, research and administrative experience, both in public and private sectors of higher education in Pakistan. He has worked with numerous educational and other institutions in different capacities at national and international levels as lecturer, associate professor, professor, chairman/head of departments, dean, consultant, coordinator, project director, director student affairs, director campus, rector, acting executive director HEC, member (Operations and Planning) HEC, deputy director general Isesco and the executive director of HEC.

PM approves appointment of Mukhtar as Chairman HEC

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has approved appointment of Mukhtar Ahmed as chairman High Education Commission (HEC), Geo News reported.

Meanwhile, PM Nawaz has appointed Pervez Saeed as Managing Director (MD) House Building Finance Corporation.

Non-appointment of HEC chairman a slap for judicial system: IHC

ISLAMABAD: Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) observed on Monday that the failure to appoint the Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman was a slap on the face of the judicial system.

He issued an order to appoint the HEC chairman in 15 days. “If the government fails to appoint the chairman within the stipulated time, a Pandora’s box about a rift between ministers will open up in the court,” the judge stated. “The names of those who are presently behind the curtains will be revealed.”

The secretary education told the court that the prime minister, after rejecting the summary for the appointment of HEC chairman, had formed a new committee. The IHC remarked that the HEC chairman couldn’t be appointed in nine months despite an assurance from the government, and the situation posed a challenge to the judicial system. He further said the treatment meted out to the country’s largest educational body reflected the pathetic state of affairs of national institutions.

SC issues notices to Chairman PTI, AG over appointment of Chairman NAB

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notices to Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan and the Attorney General over Imran's petition against the appointment of Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, comprising Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, resumed hearing of the case pertaining to Syed Mahmood Akhtar Naqvi and Imran Khan's petitions against appointment of Chaudhry Qamar Zaman as Chairman NAB.
During the course of proceedings, Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah also filed an application through his counsel Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan to become party in the case.
Aitzaz Ahsan said that the point raised by Chairman PTI against the appointment of Chairman NAB was not correct and argued that Chairman NAB's appointmrnt was in accordance with the Constitution and law.
Chairman NAB's appointment was done after consultation with the Leader of Opposition and other parties and all legal requirements were fulfilled and there was not any legal justification to dismiss him, he added.
He further said that Chairman PTI's allegations has nothing to do with the reality and facts.
The court accepted the application to become party and issued notices to Chairman PTI and Attorneuy General for Pakistan and adjourned the hearing till March 27.-

Appointment of PTA Chairman Challenged in High Court

At a time when Information Memorandum for 3G auction is about to get released and auction for next generation licenses is just around the edge, the appointment of Chairman of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Dr. Ismail Shah has been challenged in the Islamabad High Court.
Petition comes from Mr. Nasim Arshad Rana through his counsel Barrister Gohal Ali contending that appointment of Dr. Ismail Shah was against PTA’s act.
Not to mention, Mr. Nasim Arshad was also contesting for the chairmanship of PTA, which was bestowed to Dr. Ismail Shah when Supreme Court had directed the government to appoint chairman at earliest to urgently peruse the auction of next-gen licenses in the country.
In his petition, Mr. Nasim Arshad Rana cited Federation of Pakistan, Secretary Establishment, and Chairman PTA as respondents.Petition argued that chairman PTA could not be appointed without appointing the required numbers of members of PTA.
It maybe recalled that Member Technical wasn’t appointed when Dr. Ismail Shah was made the chairman. In fact the slot for member technical is still vacant.
The counsel maintained that this appointment is also against the directions of Supreme Court since the apex court had instructed to appoint the heads of all semi-government organisations through a competent commission.
Therefore, the petition, prayed the court to declare the appointment of Chairman PTA as null and void.
Via The Nation