Court issues notice to KPEZDMC in CFO reappointment case

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday issued the notice to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC) in a writ petition filed against the possible reappointment of Chief Financial Officer (CFC) of the company after his termination.

A division bench headed by Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth issued the notice to the company to submit a reply in the petition before December 25, the next date of hearing.

The court passed the order in a writ petition filed by a lawyer Amir Ali Khan.

He has sought an order of the court to the company not to appoint Shahid Khan Khattak again to the post of CFO until he proved himself innocent.

It is pertinent to mention that Shahid Khattak had been terminated by the Board of Directors of KPEZDMC for his alleged involvement in the misuse of powers, which he had challenged in the PHC.

The high court then referred his termination case again to the Board of Directors and directed it to decide the matter under the law.

Shahid Khattak later filed a contempt of court petition against the Board of Directors for not deciding his case for restoration to the post under the law and as per the court direction.

At the previous hearing, a division bench headed by Justice Syed Afsar Shah had directed the Board of Directors (BoD) to submit its committee report along with an affidavit in the court, in which removal of Shahid Khattak from the CFO position was recommended.

However, the members of the BoD had appeared in the contempt petition before the court and submitted the report.

The sub-committee report recommended the removal of the petitioner and declared the BoD decision of his removal correct.

In the report, it said the petitioner was involved in the misuse of powers and thus be removed from the post.

However, the petitioner lawyer raised an objection and submitted that it was not a proper report, rather a resolution and not prepared under the set rules.

He requested the court that the report should be submitted along with the affidavit as the petitioner is going to challenge the report as well.