ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Interior secretary and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) chief on Thursday were asked by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to file replies within a fortnight on a petition challenging the age limit advertised for the appointment of chairman NADRA.
This notice was issued by Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui during the hearing of a petition filed by Muhammad Talha Saeed a couple of days ago.
Meanwhile, the court restrained the concerned authorities from notifying the final candidate till a decision in this regard is taken, but allowed them to continue the selection process and other formalities.
Muhammad Talha Saeed’s counsel Barrister Khurram Hashmi challenged the advertisement for the post of NADRA chairman and requested the court to declare it illegal as it imposed a maximum age limit of 55 years on prospective applicants.
Saeed has been working as NADRA Registration Directorate director-general since 2011, and has also served on various posts in the authority since 2000.
Hashmi said that Saeed was inducted into Nadra on a regular basis as Director grade 19 in 2003. He served as Community Welfare Attaché between 2005 and 2011 in London when a dispute arose about his seniority.
Saeeds counsel said that he was promoted to the post of Director-General in grade 20 in 2012, but his foreign deputations have not been taken into account due to which officers junior to the petitioner were promoted much before him.
The petitioner also said that he had filed a complaint with chairman NADRA, but to no avail. Later, he filed a departmental appeal which was decided in his favour.
“To exclude qualified candidates from applying against a post purely on the basis of age limit without offering any justification or reasoning is violative of the principles of fair play and the norms of justice,” he said.
Saeed’s counsel cited decisions of superior courts in the United States and the United Kingdom, against any form of discrimination in employment on the basis of age.
