Seemingly the appointment for the Chairman and members of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority is to get further delayed as a petition challenging the recent most advertisement for appointment of said positions has been filed in Lahore High Court.
Mr. Amjad Farooq Alvi, Chief Executive of Brain Telecommunication Limited has filed a writ petition before the Lahore High Court, Lahore challenging an advertisement dated 14-06-2013 published in various nationwide newspapers through which the Cabinet Division had invited applications for appointments of Member (Finance), Member (Technical) and Member (Enforcement & Compliance) of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.
The Petitioner’s Counsel, Barrister Ch. Muhammad Umar informed the Court that the qualification and experience for the members contained in the advertisement was not in accordance with the qualifications and experience laid down in the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s Chairman and Member (Appointment and Qualification) Rules, 2013 which had been promulgated specifically to lay down the procedure and qualifications of members of the PTA.
Significant variations had been made to the qualifications and experience in order to ensure appointment of handpicked individuals.
He also informed the Court that high ranking officials in the relevant departments and ministries had even made unauthorized amendments and additions to the text of the draft rules after they had been duly vetted by the Ministry of Law and Justice and had been approved by the Prime Minister Division prior to the same being published in the official Gazette.
After hearing arguments of the Petitioner’s Counsel, Mr. Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh of the Lahore High Court has issued notices to the Respondents and has passed orders stating that any appointment made pursuant to the above advertisement shall be subject to the final outcome of the writ petition.
It merits mentioning here that PTA is entirely dysfunctional as authority is boss-less since Mr. Farooq Awan was dismissed by the Lahore High Court (LHC) on 15 January 2013 on conflicts of interests and violation of Telecom Act, 1996. While Member Finance,Nasrul Karim Ghaznavi completed his term on 24 February whereas Member Technical, Dr. Khawar Siddique Khokhar got retired from his position on March 16th 2013.
It will not be out of place to mention that Cabinet Division first advertised the jobs for Member Finance and Member Technical on on 29 January 2013. But just one day after the last date for applying, i.e., 14 February 2013, a new advertisement altering the qualifications, age and experience requirements was issued in order to accommodate favourites and blue eyed of the Government.
This alteration in job requirements were then challenged in Islamabad High Court in a petition filled by Wahaj us Siraj, CEO of Nayatel and Convener ISP Association of Pakistan (ISPAK).
Great! Amjad now joins the Lone Ranger Wahaj in the quest to keep some sanity in the mass confusion which seemingly prevails among ALLthe Politicians of all genres, breeds, castes, creeds, religious leanings, male, female, old and young! All thikn that the chicken is best for eating, burping and then sying ooops! we did not know that we are killing the goose that lays the golden egg.
Do they really care? I seriously doubt that. I have been this sector for the last 44 years. Zia, NS1 and 2, BB 1 and 2, Mush, Zardari and now NS 3.
Every little foot of progress was fought with great effort from getting NS 1 to agree on the licencing of Data (by approving ‘highways’ for telecom – thanks in major part to Gr. Ijaz Shafi Gilani) and then the slow struggle to set up a Regulator it was the GITT, then the Ministry then a glimmering of proper Regulation but still under the bureaucrats. Finally the breaking of the shackles under Musharaf with de-regulation and the explosive growth. Bringing in not just the escape from the PTCL land line mafia but also huge revenues to the government.
And the people of Pakistan.
Every body won.
The hard fought gains of many years of struggle have been systematically decimated, the sector castrated and given food for future historians to write about how not to intervene and destroy a good thing.
Zardai’s cronies started the rot: USF, high termination rates to favour the thieves, systematically debilitating the PTA and then destroying it…the story goes on, long and painful.
In their ultimate short shortsightedness, the NS 3 has set about finsihing what is left.
Hopefully people like Wahaj and Amjad and many more will step up to plate and hit a few sixes. They will find a lot of support from the people who care for the country and its people.
Wahab us Siraj we love you sir!
Great Work!!
“The
Right Person
In
The Right Place
At
The Right Time…..”
The only
way you may correct the bad things is to add better things to
your
future….and this is good step toward successful Pakistan.