ISLAMABAD  - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday suspended a notification of federal government according to which two institutions including Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) and Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) were excluded from the purview of Federal Commission of Selection of Heads of Public Sector Organizations (FCSHPSO).
A single bench of IHC comprising Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui also directed the Establishment Division and FCSHPSO to submit their reply in this connection.
After issuing these directives, the court deferred the hearing of this matter with date in office.
In this matter, a lawyer Dawood Ghazanvi had moved the court and contended before the court that his fundamental rights have been infringed upon excluding the SECP and CCP from the Purview of FCSHPSO.
The notification of government dated March 04 in this regard says, "In exercise of powers conferred in terms of para 07 of the Establishment Division notification dated July 22, 2013 and with approval of the Prime Minister, SECP and CCP are hereby excluded from the purview of FCSHPSO".
The lawyer told the court that FCSHPSO is a completely independent federal body made in compliance of the directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the judgment of Khawaja Muhammad Asif case to ensure transparency in the appointments of heads of statutory bodies, autonomous and semi autonomous bodies, regulatory authorities and organizations established by or under the control of federal government.
He was of the view that in recent times the appointments of blue-eyed persons in the public sector organizations have caused huge loss to the national exchequer.
"For the prevention of such things to happen, FCSHPSO was established in the light of Supreme Court orders," maintained the petitioner.
He argued that exclusion of SECP and CCP would affect the general public as both the institutions directly related to the economic life of the country.
Therefore, the petitioner prayed to the court to set aside the notification.