The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the revenue department to recover Rs197 million from former chairperson of Pakistan Television (PTV) Attaul Haq Qasmi, former ministers Pervaiz Rashid and Ishaq Dar, and ex-principal secretary to the prime minister Fawad Hassan Fawad in connection with the “illegal” appointment of Qasmi as the PTV head, according to Express Tribune.
Earlier in November 2018, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had declared Qasmi’s appointment illegal, held the appointing authorities – Pervaiz Rashid, Ishaq Dar and Fawad Hassan Fawad – guilty of making the appointment, and directed the authorities concerned to recover the said amount from them.
According to the verdict of the apex court, at least 50 per cent of the total amount would be recovered from Qasmi, 20 per cent each from the former ministers and 10 per cent from the ex-secretary to the prime minister.
Hearing the execution pleas filed by the PTV management, IHC Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani said that the petitions be transmitted to the district collector, ICT, who shall proceed with the recovery of the amount as per the directions of the SC, while the bench also said a report should be submitted to the court within the next three months.
Qasmi, who was appointed as chairperson for PTV on December 23, 2015, had appointed himself to the position of managing director at the state-run facility in April, 2017. During the same week, a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting had termed the move as an ‘illegal appointment’.
IHC issues notice to CDA in contempt case:
Separately, the IHC, while hearing a contempt petition filed by a citizen against the construction of Margalla Avenue in the area of Margalla Hills National Park, issued a notice to the Capital Development Authority (CDA), seeking a reply by January 11.
The petitioner’s lawyer said that the court had stopped construction in the Margalla Hills National Park area but Margalla Highway is being constructed in violation of the court order.
To this, Chief Justice Athar Minallah said that Margalla Highway is in accordance with the master plan and “the court cannot stop every development project.”
However, the court issued a notice to the CDA and directed the registrar’s office to fix the petition along with the main case for hearing on January 11.
