The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday issued notices to Finance Division secretary and Tariq Bajwa in a plea challenging his appointment as governor of the State Bank of Pakistan.
Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurengzeb also sought reply from the respondents within a month while hearing a plea moved by 23 senators through their counsel Sardar Muhammad Latif Khan Khosa.
During the course of proceedings, Khosa said that the appointment of Tariq Bajwa as SBP governor on July 7, 2017, was unlawful and void ab-initio and liable to be set aside.
He said that selection of the best person for the job with right qualification and experience had been ignored in the present case.
Though no qualification criteria was laid down in the SBP Act but his function and duties as per section 9-A and other provisions of SBP Act required educational qualification and practical experience and competence in concerned field, he added.
He requested the bench to stop Tariq Bajwa from performing duties and function under SBP Act with immediate effect and also order him to return facilities and benefits enjoyed by him.
He pleaded to seek directions for government to appoint new SBP governor following the constitutional provision laid down by the Supreme Court in PLD 2016 SC 808 and criterion laid down in PLD 2012 Supreme Court 132 and in other cases.
Around 23 senators who approached the IHC included Taj Haider, Islamud Din Sheikh, Farhatullah Babar, Karim Ahmed Khawaja, Sassi Palejo, Saher Kamran, Saeedul Hassan, Liaqat Khan Taraqap, Yousif Baloch, Hari Ram, Khaleda Perveen, Ahmed Hassan, Gian Chand, Mutaza Wahab, Azam Sawati, Tahir Hussain Mushahid, Mauman Wazir, Khushbakht Shujaat, Baz M Khan, Nighat Mirza, Farooq H Naek, Saleem Mandviwala and Ilyas Bilour.