SHC suspends LDA DG’s appointment notification

Karachi
The Sindh High Court has suspended the notification regarding the appointment of the Lyari Development Authority’s director general.
The interim order came on Friday on a petition of Mohammad Saleem, who had challenged the appointment of Agha Maqsood Abbas being contrary to law and Supreme Court’s judgments.
The petitioner submitted that Abbas was an ex-cadre officer at the Karachi Building Control Authority and had been unlawfully and contemptuously occupying the office of LDA director general on a cadre post of BPS-20.
Abbas has also been allowed to hold an additional charge of the project director at the Shaheed Mohatarma Benazir Bhutto Town, Board of Revenue Sindh.
Petitioner’s counsel Barrister Zamir Ghumro submitted the post of LDA DG was a cadre post and no ex-cadre person could be appointed. Besides, he submitted, the career of the respondent officer was tainted with charges of corruption and irregularities in as much as his name was included in the final list of 33 corrupt officers of the province in the year 2000 and enquiries were also being conducted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Anti-Corruption against him.
He said the appointment of DG LDA had to be made by the provincial chief executive but in this case, the chief secretary had exercised the authority of chief executive and the very appointment order was without jurisdiction. The counsel stated that Abbas could not be allowed to hold a cadre post and that too in sheer violation of the orders passed by the superior courts.
The court was asked to set aside his appointment and declare all the acts and orders passed without lawful authority.
The division bench, headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar, after the preliminary hearing of the petition issued notices to chief secretary, secretary local government and others and in the meantime suspended the appointment notification of DG LDA till further orders.