Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Saturday while hearing public interest cases took exception to appointment of Dr Syed Tauqir Shah, former principal secretary of Chief Minister Punjab, as ambassador/permanent representative to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The chief justice issued notice to Tauqir Shah and called the notification of his appointment at the WTO.
A two-member judge bench was hearing a suo motu case against appointment of vice chancellors at the public sector medical universities when the CJP asked the chief secretary "Where is Dr Tauqir Shah nowadays?" The chief secretary said the federal government had appointed him as permanent representative to the WTO in Geneva.
The Chief Justice further asked, "Was he very brilliant bureaucrat that the government posted him in foreign mission?" The CJP observed that Tauqir Shah had enjoyed a lot during his posting at the chief minister secretariat. "Let us see how much his foreign appointment was transparent," he said and ordered the secretary establishment to submit record of the appointment in question.
Tauqir Shah was serving as principal secretary to the chief minister when Model Town killings incident was occurred. The Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), the aggrieved party, had also nominated him as an accused in the case. The government had removed Tauqir Shah as the principal secretary in the wake of Model Town incident and later appointed him to the WTO. Meanwhile, court's commission Ayesha Hamid stated that a new search committee constituted for Nishtar Medical University Multan had recommended a panel of three nominees for the post of vice chancellor.
She said the names would be soon sent to the chief minister for the selection of one of the nominees. The CJP said he hoped that out of the three nominees the government would select the most competent. Ayesha further stated that recently appointed VC Dr Zafar Tanvir had tendered his resignation in the light of the court's observations.
She said publication of advertisement for the post of vice chancellor at University of Health Sciences was pending due to a ban imposed on fresh appointments by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ahead upcoming general election. At this the chief justice sought the relevant notification of the ECP on Sunday (today) to examine the scope of the ban on the new appointments.
About King Edward Medical University, convener of the relevant search committee Dr Amir Aziz told the court that the vacant slot of the vice chancellor would be filled within two weeks. The chief justice decided to constitute new search committees for Fatima Jinnah Medical University, Faisalabad Medical University and Rawalpindi Medical University for appointment of VCs afresh.
When Ayesha Hamid stated that regular VCs had been appointed at these three universities, the chief justice expressed his concern over the process of the appointments. The CJP therefore summoned Rawalpindi University's VC for Sunday (today) to hear his point view on the point of making new search committees for the fresh appointments.