ISLAMABAD: A prosecution witness in illegal appointment of former chief executive officer (CEO) of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) case, senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and former advisor on Civil Aviation Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi and others told Accountability Court that the federal government is the final authority to appoint CEO PIA.
The prosecution witness, Irfan Afzal, a senior official of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) during cross-examination by the defence counsel, Shahid Mehmood told Accountability Court-I judge Muhammad Bashir that it is correct that the federal government is the final authority to appoint CEO PIA.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor, Sohail Arif, appeared before the court.
To a question asked by the defence counsel, the witness said that it is correct that the committee sent three names to the board of governor (BoD) for appointment of the CEO including Muhammad Ejaz Haroon, Muhammad Junaid Younas, and Musharraf Rasool Cyan.
The witness said that it is correct that the BoD recommended the name for appointment of the CEO to the federal government with preference as (1) Musharraf Rasool, (2) Muhammad Ejaz Haroon, and (3) Muhammad Junaid Younas.
It is correct that as per para 3(2) of the SECP guidelines, it is provided that the board may seek the assistance of its National Committee to facilitate it in making appointment of the CEO in accordance with rules 5 of the SECP, he said.
He said that it is correct that in 2016, in the 5th Board meeting, then chairman of the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL) constituted a committee for appointment of its CEO.
It is also correct that it was the practice on the basis of which the committee was constituted for short listing the names of candidate for appointment of the CEO, he said, adding that it is being done as per SECP guideline 2015.
He said that it is in domain of the BoD to remove a CEO before expiry of his tenure, if he is not functioning properly.
As per the SECP guidelines, 2015, it has to recommend three names to the federal government for appointment of the CEO, he said.
The witness said that as per SECP guidelines 2015, the federal government may refuse to appoint any person as CEO, if the line ministry does not agree and refers the matter back for reconsideration and with the direction to identify additional or alternatives candidate, he said, adding that if the federal government is satisfied with the profile of the candidate recommended by the BoD, it may appoint any of those three candidates as the CEO.
The court adjourned hearing of the case till October 4, after the defence counsel completed recording the statement of the witness.
The other accused included Muhammad Irfan Elahi, former secretary Civil Aviation, M Raheel Ahmed, chief HR officer, Musharraf Rasool Cyan, former chief executive officer (CEO) PIA, and Tariq Mehmood Pasha.
Former governor Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Mehtab Abbasi was appointed as aviation adviser to then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 2017.
After a few months of Abbasi’s appointment, Dr Musharraf Rasool Cyan was appointed as the CEO of the PIA. But a year later, the Supreme Court declared Dr Cyan’s appointment as illegal, after hearing a case filed by the PIA Officers Association challenging his appointment.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan, who headed a three-member bench of the Supreme Court that delivered the verdict, had said, “Mehtab Abbasi was a party to the appointment.”
The NAB, in its executive board meeting (EBM), had decided to file a reference in the Accountability Court in this regard.
The suspects were accused of appointing Dr Cyan in violation of the rules by misusing their authority, leading to significant losses to the national exchequer.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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