PHC stops KPEZDMC new CEO’s appointment

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday stopped the KP government from initiating the process to appoint a fresh chief executive officer (CEO) of the KP Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC).

The KP cabinet removed Javed Iqbal Khattak from the position of CEO of the KPEZDMC on August 29, last month. The sacked CEO moved the PHC later against his sacking.

A two-member PHC bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Shahid Khan heard a petition.

Shumail Ahmad Butt represented the petitioner. He informed the court that his client was first appointed for a renewable term of three years in March 2020. The contract was later extended for another three years by the KP cabinet in 2022 on the recommendation of the Board of Governors of KPEZDMC.

He said that Section 190 of the Companies Act authorises the Board of Directors (BoD) to remove the CEO.

KPEZMDC is a Section 42 Company with a BoD having 8 out of 12 directors from the private sector. He maintained that the KP cabinet was not vested with any authority to remove a CEO, he argued.

The counsel said the KP government had neither consulted the board before removing the CEO nor served him with any shoaw cause notice.

He referred to a recent judgment of the PHC authored by Justice Syed Arshad Ali where the court had struck down the removal of the WSSP CEO from another government-owned company.

Assistant Advocate General Waqar, while representing the government, informed the court that the department had duly notified the removal of the CEO on September 2 and had initiated the process to appoint a fresh CEO.

The court directed the government to file comments within three days and fixed the case for final disposal on September 12.