ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday declared the appointment of former chairman and managing director of Pakistan Television (PTV) Attaullah Haq Qasmi, as illegal and void ab initio.
A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, announced its reserved judgment, pertaining to 48-pages.
The judgment, read out by Justice Umer Ata Bandiyal in open court, authored by the Chief Justice, stated that “Qasmi's appointment was against rules and regulations."
The verdict declared that the then information and finance ministers, Pervaiz Rashid and Ishaq Dar, as well as former principal secretary to then prime minister, were responsible for the illegal appointment.
The apex court also termed the then ministers and principal secretary to PM, responsible for loss of over Rs. 197 million, spent in the form of salaries and perks, granted to Qasmi and ordered to recover the amount from them.
"Qasmi will pay 50% of the total amount, while the former ministers will pay 20% each and the former principal secretary to the PM, will have to submit 10% of the Rs. 197,867,491/-.
Mr. Qasmi was declared to be ineligible to be appointed as a Director of any company from the date of this judgment onward.
"The administrative actions taken by Mr. Qasmi are beyond the scope of duties of a Chairman, therefore all such orders passed by him during his tenure are declared to be illegal and void ab initio," the judgment added.
The apex court ordered the Federal Government to appoint a full-time MD of PTV (if the position is still vacant) after fulfilling all legal, procedural and codal formalities, strictly in accordance with law.
Subsequently, the bench disposed of the sou moto case.
Attaullah Haq Qasmi was appointed the chairman of PTV in 2015 but in April 2017, he appointed himself the MD as well.
The court was informed by the additional attorney general and information secretary that Qasmi had reportedly received a total of Rs 278 million in salaries and advertising cuts during his two-year stint.
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