LAHORE – The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday sought reply within 10 days from the Punjab chief secretary on a petition challenging the appointment of Punjab Health Secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad. Usman Ishtiaq filed the petition through his counsel Muhammad Safdar Shaheen, who submitted that Fawad was an officer of grade 19 but was working at the seat of BPS-20. He said Fawad was not only working as health secretary but was also attending a mandatory promotion course at National Institute of Public Administration, which was against the law. He alleged that the secretary was also working on other projects and getting four allowances and salaries as well. The counsel prayed to the court to issue directions for his removal.
HEC’S CASE HEARING ADJOURNED: LHC Justice Azmat Saeed on Tuesday adjourned for indefinite period the hearing of a writ petition challenging the dissolution of Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, ruling that issue is already pending in the Supreme Court. Fahad Ahmed Siddiqi, who submitted that HEC was established to facilitate institutions imparting higher education, filed the petition. He said the government had decided to desolve the HEC to the provinces and have started consultation with provincial governments in this respect.
He said the federal government was trying to save its money by handing over HEC to provinces. In this way, they would save money in the upcoming budget and would ask provinces to run HEC from the money they would get from the NFC award, he said. He prayed the court to issue directions to the respondents to abstain from dissolving the HEC and to summon chairman of the Implementation Commission and ask him the extraneous considerations on the basis of which he formed an opinion that the HEC does not fall within ambit and scope of the federal legislation list.
FIA ADDITIONAL DIRECTOR SOUGHT: An LHC’s division bench on Tuesday sought personal appearance of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Additional Director Zafar Qureshi on April 19 in connection with bail petition of Muhammad Maalick, manger of Moonis Elahi, involved in opening of forged accounts for transfer of money of National Insurance Company. On Tuesday, FIA produced the case record but the CJ adjourned the hearing, observing that Qureshi should be present in the court as he was well conversant with the facts of the case.
Moonis, son of former Punjab chief minister Pervez Elahi, is on judicial remand for his alleged involvement in the scam. Maalick and others including former federal minister Habibullah Warraich and his son Mohsin Warraich are accused of misappropriating NICL’s funds because of land purchase. The agency is to recover embezzled amount of Rs 420 million, which Maalick allegedly deposited to the account of Mohsin Warraich.
