LAHORE   -  The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday ordered removal of Lieutenant General Munir Afsar as the current National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) chairman, stating his appointment to the position was unauthorised and in violation of Nadra’s rules.

In October 2023, Lt Gen 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 for a three-year term in March 2024. The petition was filed by citizen Ashba Kamran, who challenged that the appointment of the chairman was “in violation of the provisions of Nadra Ordinance, 2000”.

The petitioner added that the appointment did not adhere “to the requirements of conducting a fair and competitive process for appointment by inviting potential aspirants”.

The petition read that the appointment “contravenes the constitutional principle of equality of the citizens and abrogates guaranteed fundamental rights” and did not adhere to the “requirements of conducting a fair and competitive process for appointment”.

On Friday, Justice Asim Hafeez presided over the hearing of the case and delivered a verdict, ordering the removal of Lt Gen Afsar from his post citing his appointment to be without the requisite “authority of law.” According to the judgment, Nadra chairman’s appointment served as an “instance of direct appointment, which was not advertised” and “no qualification-based evaluation was conducted” when he was being appointed.

It further said that a “nonadvertised and competitive deficient appointment is otherwise held contrary to the mandate of Article 18 of the Constitution”.

“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”, the order of the verdict said.

Any appointment, the order continued, made on a post under the government without issuing advertisement, inviting applications from eligible candidates, and 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.

“I am afraid that illegality committed by way of an unauthorized appointment, by the appointing authority in absence of delegation, cannot be covered – one cannot hide the elephant in mouse-hole,” Justice Hafeez wrote in the judgment.

“Hence, discretion necessarily needs to be exercised, to end usurpation of the office. In these circumstances, the act of confirming the appointment of respondent No.6 is unauthorized and otherwise inconsistent with the enactment.” Consequently, the order allowed the petition and declared the appointment of the current Nadra chairman without “authority of law”.

Lt Gen Afsar was appointed as the chairman of Nadra in October 2023 after the then-cabinet members had given their approval for the appointment, following their deliberation on the three candidates proposed by the interior ministry.

Gen Afsar was among the 12 major generals who were promoted to the rank of lieutenant general in October 2022.

He had taken over the position of chairman from Asad Rehman Gilani, who assumed the charge in June 2023 following the resignation of Tariq Malik.