Skip to main content

Pak Court Orders Removal Of Army General From Key Position In Rare Verdict

In a rare verdict, a Pakistani court on Friday ordered the removal of a serving general of the Pakistan Army from heading a key organisation, which regulates government databases and statistically manages the sensitive registration database of all citizens of the country, stating that his appointment to the position was “unauthorised” and in violation of the rules.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) annulled the appointment of National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) Chairman Lieutenant General Munir Afsar on a petition filed by a citizen, Ashba Kamran.

In October 2023, Afsar became the first serving military officer to be appointed as Nadra's chairman. The appointment was initially made by the caretaker government led by the then-prime minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and later confirmed by the elected federal government of Shehbaz Sharif for a three-year term till 2027 in March this year.

In the petition, Kamran challenged that the appointment of Afsar was “in violation of the provisions of Nadra Ordinance, 2000” and it did not adhere “to the requirements of conducting a fair and competitive process for appointment by inviting potential aspirants”.

Justice Asim Hafiz in the verdict noted that the army general's appointment was illegal.

“Lest anyone misunderstand this, we make it clear that the appointment to any post under the government can only be made after a proper advertisement has been made, inviting applications from eligible candidates. Without holding a proper selection where all eligible candidates get a fair chance to compete would violate the guarantee enshrined under Articles 18 and 27 of the Constitution," he remarked.

“I am afraid that illegality committed by way of an unauthorised appointment, one cannot hide the elephant in a mouse-hole,” the judge noted.

The powerful Pakistan Army, which has ruled coup-prone Pakistan for more than half of its 75-plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in matters of security and foreign policy. According to experts, the LHC's decision is seen as a setback for the backers of the current regime as the military wants to have its men in important positions in civil organisations. 

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)



from NDTV News-World-news https://ift.tt/ySLCta6

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Muhammad Now The Most Popular Name For A Baby In Great Britain, Data Shows

427 years after William Shakespeare wrote it for the first time in the great "tragedy" Romeo & Juliet, England is asking the quintessential question - "What's in a name?" - And this time wondering what significance that question might hold in another 42.7 years. The Department of Statistics in the United Kingdom has revealed in its latest dataset that Muhammad is officially the most popular name for a newborn boy in England and Wales. More than 4,600 babies were registered with that name in 2023 - the highest for a boy. Muhammad was the second-most popular name in 2022 as well. Noah, once the most popular name in UK, came a distant second this year, according to the Office for National Statistics or ONS. But the staff at Great Britain's statistical office has in-fact been observing the trend for a while now. Jotting down the most popular names in the UK, besides other important statistics, it revealed that Muhammad has been among the top 10 names for...
Post a Comment
Read more

US Issues $25-Million Bounty On Venezuela President On Day Of His Oath

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose nearly 12 years in office have been marked by deep economic and social crisis, was sworn in for a third term on Friday, despite a six-month-long election dispute, international calls for him to stand aside and an increase in the US reward offered for his capture. Maduro, president since 2013, was declared the winner of July's election by both Venezuela's electoral authority and top court, though detailed tallies confirming his victory have never been published. Venezuela's opposition says ballot box-level tallies show a landslide win for its former candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, who is recognized as president-elect by several countries including the United States. International election observers said the vote was not democratic. The months since the election have seen Gonzalez's flight to Spain in September, his ally Maria Corina Machado going into hiding in Venezuela, and the detentions of high-profile opposition figures and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

It's Official, Kamala Harris Is Democratic Candidate For US Election

US Vice President Kamala Harris effectively secured the Democratic party's presidential nomination Friday, confirming her remarkable rise to party standard bearer in November's showdown against Republican Donald Trump. Kamala Harris was the sole candidate on the ballot for a five-day electronic vote of nearly 4,000 party convention delegates. She will be officially crowned at a Chicago convention later this month. "I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States," Kamala Harris, 59, said on a phone-in to a party celebration after securing enough votes by the second day of the marathon vote. In the two weeks since President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid, Kamala Harris has gained full control of the party. No other Democrats stepped forward to challenge her elevation to the top of the ticket, making her confirmation as the first Black and South Asian woman ever to secure a major party's nomination a formality. The a...
Post a Comment
Read more