IHC disposes of petition

TERENCE J SIGAMONY

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday disposed of former Rear Admiral Jamil Akhtar’s petition, after the Attorney General informed he proposes to the federal government to withdraw notifications of removal of chairman of the Karachi Port Trust (KPT).

A single bench of IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah after hearing the arguments disposed of the case. Attorney General Khalid told; “He is in the process of recommending to the federal government to withdraw the impugned notifications.”

The AGP further stated: “He also intends to advise the federal government to proceed strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 1886 and having regard to the principles of procedural fairness and due process embedded in Article 10-A of the Constitution.” The court order said; “In view of the fair and just interpretation of the law by the attorney general, the grievance of the latter stands redressed.” The IHC dismissed the petitions of general secretary of the KPT Union and others, against KPT chairman, saying both the individuals cannot be treated as aggrieved persons.

A registered trade union or a notified collective bargaining agent under the Industrial Relations Act, 2011 are bound by its provisions and their role is confined to matters explicitly described by the legislature.

It is noted that courts, while exercising constitutional jurisdiction jealously guard against abuse of its process.

The IHC bench also said that moreover, maintaining discipline within statutory organisations and discouraging scandalous and frivolous litigation were relevant factors for determining maintainability of a constitutional petition. Justice Athar maintained that the impugned notifications should remain suspended till the advice of the Attorney General for Pakistan was considered by the federal government and a decision was taken accordingly.

However, he said that the petitioner would be at liberty to file an application for restoration of the petition in the event the advice of the attorney general was not acted upon by the federal government.

The order noted that the federal government would be at liberty to proceed in the matter in accordance with law, inter alia, having regard to the provisions of the Act of 1886 and the law laid down by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the case, “Messrs Mustafa Impex, Karachi and others vs The Government of Pakistan through Secretary Finance, Islamabad and others”, PLD 2016 SC 808.

The IHC order said, “It expects that the affairs of the trust will be dealt with by the federal government in accordance with its statutory powers and that there will be no unauthorized interference in violation of the explicit provisions of the Act of 1886.”

Rear Admiral (retired) Jamil Akhtar was appointed chairman KPT by the previous government on November 23, 2017 for three years but the federal government removed him from the post on March 25, 2020 citing various reasons.

A notification issued by the Establishment Division on March 25, said that the federal government removed Akhtar from the post “forthwith by modifying/reducing his period of initial appointment in terms of Section 11 of the KPT Act, 1886, with immediate effect”.

Later, another notification of the division said that “the federal government is pleased to assign additional charge of the post of the chairman of the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) to Shakeel Mangnejo (BS-21), director general of Ports and Shipping, Karachi, under the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, for a period of three months.”

The notification issued by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs stated that Akhtar had been removed from the office of the chairman of the KPT with immediate effect because of “irregularities in the KPT.”