PHC withdraws BoK MD termination notice

Writ petition dismissed

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Friday dismissed as withdrawn the writ petition of Bank of Khyber Managing Director Shamsul Qayyum after the court with the consent of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general treated the termination notice as withdrawn leaving no stigma on the future of the petitioner.

 However, the counsel for Finance Minister Muzaffar Sayyid of Jamaat-e-Islami opposed the government move to withdraw the termination notification. He said his client, being a complainant in the action against the bank’s managing director, did not agree to the provincial government stance.

 A division bench comprising Justice Lal Jan Khattak and Justice Qalandar Ali Khan dismissed as withdrawn the writ petition after hearing both the parties. “At the very outset, counsel for the petitioner had moved an instant writ petition for declaring the termination notice as unlawful and void and seeking extension in the job for two more years. But, now his counsel Abdur Rauf Rohaila said that petitioner is no more interested to complete five years and press the petition if the termination notice was withdrawn,” the order passed on the petition read.

The order stated that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general and additional advocate general had expressed no objection to set aside the termination notice against the Bank of Khyber (BoK) managing director.

During the hearing, the court pointed out that if the government was not interested in pursuing the termination notice, it could withdraw the notice as the court would set aside the termination notice only if some material was produced to warrant setting aside of the termination notice on merit.

In reply, the advocate general stated that even otherwise the petitioner was appointed managing director of the bank for a period of three years through a contract agreement on October 1, 2014 and it was going to expire today (Friday).

He said the position of the provincial government was that the termination notice should not serve as stigma for the petitioner. The advocate general requested the court for treating the termination notice as withdrawn, leaving no stigma on the future of the petitioner.

“At this juncture, the counsel for respondent No 4 (finance minister) stated that whatever order the court may deem appropriate to pass in the case in the light of stated position of the provincial government put forward by the advocate general, no such order should tend to have adverse effect on the declared position of the finance minister with regard to the conduct of the petitioner,” the order stated.

The court announced that without prejudice to the declared position of the finance minister in the matter, the impugned termination notice issued on September 6, 2017 is treated as withdrawn.

During the previous hearing, the court had suspended Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s termination notice issued to the BoK Managing Director Shamsul Qayyum.The petitioner had claimed he was being victimised for resisting political interference by the finance minister in the bank’s affairs.

He had stated that he didn’t bow to political pressure, especially on the issues of appointments, transfers and promotion of the bank’s staff members.The petitioner said the finance minister backed by his political party (Jamaat-i-Islami) launched a campaign against him and the BoK management and news items to this effect appeared in the newspapers on April 14, 2016.

He said the allegations made by the minister against him and bank’s management were without any substance and, therefore, in consequence of consensus of members of the BoK board of directors a clarification was published in newspapers on April 15 last year.