IHC suspends a single bench decision and reinstates the PTA chairman.

Major General (retd) Hafeezur Rehman, the chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), was reinstated till further proceedings after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday delayed the single bench’s decision that had dismissed him from office.

Appeal hearing
A two-member panel made up of Justice Muhammad Asif and Justice Inam Amin Minhas heard the case.

Lawyers Qasim Wadood and Salman Mansoor appeared before the bench on behalf of the PTA chairman, and the additional attorney general was also in attendance.

Lawyers dispute the legal system.
Salman Mansoor contended during the hearings that notwithstanding the petitioner’s failure to request relief, it had been granted. He stressed that neither the regulations nor the attorney general’s right to notice—which he claimed was required by law—were contested in the petition.

The PTA attorney said that “what is not requested in the petition cannot be considered under Article 199,” adding that the single bench acknowledged that the discussion was “not yet complete.”

Mansoor argued that due process had not been observed when Justice Muhammad Asif asked if the PTA had been given enough time to make its case.

PTA chairman reinstatement
After deliberations, the two-member court reinstated Maj Gen (retd) Hafeezur Rehman as PTA chairman and suspended the previous ruling.

Hafeezur Rehman’s lawyer, Qasim Wadood, also brought up the subject of resistance to his client’s original PTA membership nomination. “The petition argued that the vacancy had been advertised incorrectly,” he said.

Discuss the regulations and the appointment procedure.
According to the petitioner, modifications to the PTA’s appointment guidelines had not been adequately taken into account.

The PTA’s attorney retorted that the petition was filed after the regulations were changed on March 25. He added that Hafeezur Rehman’s appointment was made in accordance with the updated regulations and with the federal cabinet’s permission.

The IHC declared on September 16 that the PTA chairman’s appointment was unlawful and ordered his immediate dismissal. The ruling was made public by Justice Babar Sattar in a 99-page reserved judgment.

A petition contesting the appointment of PTA Chairman Major General (r) Hafeezur Rehman was granted by the court, which noted that the selection procedure was defective and did not adhere to the law.

The IHC had ruled that the appointment was “not legally valid” and ordered the chairman to step down immediately.