AG summoned in CAA case

LAHORE
THE Lahore High Court Justice Ijazul Ahsan Friday summoned Attorney General of Pakistan before the court and sought para-wise comments on a petition challenging appointment of Capt (r) Shujaat Azim as special assistant on Civil Aviation Authority to the prime minister.
The LHC remarked that matter of stopping Azim from exercising his powers could be considered on the next date of hearing on March 26.
On behalf of the petitioner, Barrister Syed Ali Zafar argued that appointment of Shujaat Azim as a Special Assistant was made without following due process and ignoring the qualification criteria. He maintained that the post was not advertised, and even the status and functions of Special Assistant never specified. He said in Muhammad Yasin case of 2012, the Supreme Court had decided that appointments to public offices had to be made on merit.
He submitted that Shujaat Azim suffered from a blatant and very serious conflict of interest in as much as he was owner of a company under the nomenclature of Royal Airport Services which carries out aircraft ground handling business at all airports of Pakistan. Capt (r) Shujaat Azim has been giving concessions, including landing rights to airlines in return for the airlines giving business to his company and this in law amounts to automatic disqualification on account of bias. He said Doha, Turkish and Etihad Airways had been given and offered landing rights in return for giving business to his company.
Barrister Zafar argued that under the Constitution, the executive functions of the Federation could only be carried out by the PM acting through ministers/advisers or secretaries. There was no Constitutional or legal power available with the PM to give executive functions of the Federation to a newly-created post of Special Assistant on Aviation. He argued that in contravention of these constitutional and legal requirements Shujaat Azim was in fact executing the functions of the Federation which was unlawful. He said Azim was enjoying authorities as in charge of making the policy of Aviation which was a purely executive matter to be undertaken by the Executive and not by a Special Assistant to the PM.
The petitioner alleged that Shujaat Azim had virtually become in charge of CAA, which was a regulatory authority and independent of the government and in this connection had been inspecting and deciding upon matters relating to construction at airports, which fell exclusively in the domain of CAA.