The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday suspended restoration orders of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) Chairman Saeed Ahmed Khan till Tuesday on the civil miscellaneous petition of the federation.
A single-judge bench of Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi issued suspension orders on petition of Pakistan Additional Attorney General (AAG) Afnan Karim Kundi under Order 41, Rule 5 of Civil Procedure Code.
During the proceedings, AAG pleaded for restoration of Saeed Ahmed Khan on his post till filing of appeal against the order of the same court. The bench observed that being a state counsel it was his right under Order 41, Rule 5 of Civil Procedure Code and suspended reinstate orders of its own court till Tuesday and directed the counsel to file the appeal till then.
It is to be mentioned here that on February 11, the Cabinet Division had sent Saeed Ahmed Khan on forced leave due to his alleged role in the January fuel crisis.
Khan challenged the orders and argued the court that under OGRA Ordinance, the chairman can only be removed if found to be physically or mentally incompetent, or is guilty of misconduct, therefore, he could not be sent on forced leave, which was accepted by the bench and directed federation to restore Saeed Ahmed Khan on his post.