ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday reserved its verdict on a petition filed against the appointment of special advisers to the prime minister.
As per details, the IHC bench headed by Justice Aamer Farooq heard the case and Deputy Attorney General Raja Khalid Mehmood appeared on behalf of the federal government.
The petitioner, GM Chaudhry, pleaded that the appointment of special advisers is a burden on the national exchequer and also against the constitution. He demanded to nullify the appointments of Miftah Ismail, Asif Kirmani, Barrister Zafarullah, Musaddiq Malik and Khawaja Zaheer. The deputy attorney general took the plea that the prime minister has the right to appoint advisers under rules of business and there was no violation of the constitution through the appointments.
It was further pleaded that the petition was not filed with good intentions and should be discarded and declared non-maintainable.
The court after hearing arguments from both sides reserved the decision in the case.
On August 14 last year, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi approved the appointment of five advisers along with naming Sartaj Aziz as the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, who would also enjoy the status of the federal minister.
The prime minister also appointed Lt Gen (r) Nasir Khan Janjua as National Security Adviser.
Other advisers that were appointed included Amir Muqam, Irfan Siddiqui, Sardar Mehtab and Jam Mashooq.
