Dr Illahi had contended that he had been appointed for a period of three years as per rules and regulations and that his tenure would end on March 9, 2020. Additional Attorney General Tariq Khokhar, however, informed the court that the government has already changed the rules for appointment of the chairman.
During the hearing, Justice Minallah remarked that the matter of appointment falls in the category of administrative issues being looked after by the Prime Minister. In November, the PTI government had removed the former PML-N legislator from the chairmanship of the society without assigning any reason. President Dr Arif Alvi, in his capacity as head of the PRCS, had appointed Haq chairman of the society for three years.
The PTI officials had said that Dr Elahi had been removed for openly criticizing the government. Dr Elahi claimed that his removal was illegal because he had neither completed his tenure nor was there any cogent reason to remove him from the position. Dr Elahi had been appointed by the PML-N government as the PRCS chairman in 2014 and was granted extension for another term in 2017.