Lahore High Court quashes appointment of Lt Gen Afsar as Nadra chairman

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday annulled the appointment of Lt Gen Munir Afsar as the chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra).

In a petition that the LHC had approved, citizen Ashba Kamran had opposed the lieutenant general's appointment as chairman.

Ordering the military officer’s removal as the chairman, Justice Asim Hafeez announced a reserved verdict on the plea.

The illegality committed by way of an unauthorised appointment, by the appointing authority, cannot be concealed, Justice Hafeez said.

Hence, the judge in his remarks maintained, the appointment was "declared without requisite 'authority of law'".

He also directed to send a copy of the order to the federal cabinet, Ministry of Interior and all the departments concerned.

It was contended in the petition that the caretaker government had approved the appointment of a serving army officer by amending the Nadra Ordinance. The caretaker government cannot interfere in permanent policy matters, it argued.

The petition pleaded that the high court should quash the Nadra amendment rules and declare appointment of the servicemen as Nadra chairman invalid.

The News — in its report quoting sources on August 30, 2023 — said that the interim federal cabinet had approved the rules for the appointment of the NADRA chairman, which opened doors to the servicemen to be deputed as the head of the public institution.

Credible sources had told The News that the summary received by the Cabinet Division from the Ministry of Interior, in which filling the extraordinary position of NADRA chairman on a deputation or secondment basis had been clearly approved for inclusion in the new rules.

Earlier, the Nadra Ordinance clearly stated that only an independent person could be appointed to this post, which meant that no government official, retired officer or secretary could be given this position.