Chairman PTA reinstated

Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has suspended Justice Babar Sattar’s decision to remove the Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) from his post.

A two-member bench of the IHC comprising Justice Muhammad Asif and Justice Inam Amin Minhas heard the intra-court appeal of the Chairman PTA, in which Qasim Wadood, the lawyer of Chairman PTA Major General (retd) Hafeez-ur-Rehman, appeared before the court.

Intra-court appeals were filed by the PTA, the federation, and the dismissed Chairman. The Additional Attorney General and others also appeared before the court in this regard.

During the hearing, PTA lawyer Salman Mansoor argued that relief was granted even for the petition that was not requested. Before removing the Chairman PTA, neither the rules were challenged nor was the Attorney General notified.

The PTA lawyer argued before the court that it was necessary to issue a notice to the Attorney General because the request that was not made in the petition filed cannot be seen in Article 199.

Salman Mansoor further said that the court itself has written that the entire discussion has not been completed yet, and two petitions containing objections were also filed. The decision was reserved without looking at them.

He added that arguments were yet to be made on the objections to the admissibility of the petition, but when the lawyers were on leave, the hearing was declared complete that day, and the decision was reserved.

Justice Muhammad Asif spoke to Salman Mansoor about his arguments and said that he had been given enough opportunity.

Later, after the arguments were completed, the court suspended Justice Babar Sattar's decision to remove PTA Chairman Major General (retd) Hafeez-ur-Rehman and reinstated him in his post.