The stance of the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) board of directors (BoD) of giving extension to the company chief executive officer (CEO) is against the rules, as the company has to consider the nominations forwarded by PEPCO, Pakistan Today learnt on Saturday. Moreover, the LESCO BoD cannot give extension to a person who has already attained the age of 60 and has not given extension and considered retired from service. The LESCO BoD ignored all rules to favour CEO Saleem Akhter. Therefore, BoD Chairman Ahmad Rafay Alam rejected the appointment of Sharafat Sial as the LESCO CEO and gave an illegal extension to Saleem Akhter for two years, thus appointing him the CEO. The LESCO put its headquarter on high security on Saturday and did not allow anyone to enter while Saleem Akhter sat in the CEO office. PEPCO Managing Director (MD) Rasul Khan Mehsud nominated Sharafat Sial as the LESCO CEO. Sharafat went to LESCO headquarters on Friday to take charge, but was not allowed to enter the office by LESCO and had to return without taking over the office. Meanwhile, the LESCO BoD gave extension to former CEO Saleem Akhter, who was retiring on the same date. PEPCO MD Rasul Khan Mehsud said the Establishment Division had notified that any official, who has not been given extension after retirement, should be shown the door. He said he acted according to the rules and appointed Sharafat Sial as the CEO, but his appointment was defied by the LESCO BoD. Sources said that according to rules, PEPCO acted on behalf of the president of Pakistan and sends a request of appointment of CEO to the LESCO BoD, though it is the discretion of the BoD to accept or reject the appointment, provided it has strong grounds. The sources said that in the current case, LESCO CEO Saleem Akhter had attained the age of 60 and retired, therefore, the BoD did not have a strong logic to defy the nomination of PEPCO. They said the pressure group in LESCO was not taking orders from Mehsud seriously and had set an example, which would be very dangerous for future appointments.
