Supreme Court Wednesday ordered removal of Siddiqul Farooq as the head of Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) with directives to appoint an apolitical person as new head of the trust. Hearing the Katas Raj suo motu case, a three-member bench had summoned Farooq over his controversial appointment and role in the ETPB, which looks after affairs of minorities' religious places in the country.
The court, during several earlier hearings of the case, had berated the ETPB chief over his negligence and appointment on nepotism. The historic Katas Raj pond, a revered site for Hindus, is said to have depleted due to the operations of cement factories nearby which have sucked out the underground water.
During the hearing, the chief justice had also come down hard on Farooq, asking how he could remain on his post when his term has expired. "How long will political appointments continue to be made in the country?" the Chief Justice observed further.
"Farooq's credentials for the appointment are his 30 years of political service," the Chief Justice had observed at an earlier hearing, adding that someone who collected newspapers in the party office was appointed to such an important post.
Then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed Farooq as the ETPB chairman in October 2014 - a-year-and-a-half after the post fell vacant. Farooq was previously the PML-N's spokesman as well as Nawaz Sharif's press secretary during Sharif's previous tenure as the prime minister.
Former Chairman ETPB Asif Hashmi had resigned in March 2013 when the Federal Investigation Agency began investigating him for financial misappropriation.
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