Zubair Qureshi
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has restrained Chairman of the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), Naeem Bokhari from working and remarked the government could not give a clear reason for relaxing the upper age limit for 65-year old Bokhari.
Chief Justice Athar Minallah while hearing identical petitions against the appointment of Mr Bokhari observed the Supreme Court (SC) had set clear guidelines in such appointments and referred to the decision in appointment case of former chairman Ataul Haq Qasmi.
The court noted that the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting had repeated the same mistakes as those in Qasmi’s case and had not perused the apex court’s judgment while sending the summary to the federal cabinet.
In the last hearing, the IHC CJ had observed that Bokhari’s appointment appeared to have been made in violation of the guidelines set by the SC, and had advised the counsel for the PTV chairman to peruse the decision that had set aside the appointment of Qasmi.
During the hearing on Thursday, the court asked whether the government had issued an advertisement for the appointment in the light of Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The court also held that the government before moving the summary didn’t bother to go through verdict of the SC and Ministry of Information made the same mistakes that were made during appointment Ataul Haq Qasmi.
“You have caused embarrassment for the entire Cabinet by sending them a half-baked summary,” said the chief justice.
In Nov 2018, the Supreme Court had declared Qasmi’s appointment illegal. The court ordered the federal government to appoint a full-time managing director of PTV after fulfilling all legal, procedural and codal formalities strictly in accordance with the law.
The federal government on November 23 2020, had appointed Naeem Bokhari the renowned anchor and broadcaster as Chairman of the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) for a period of three years.
According to the notification issued by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, the federal government in pursuant to the provision of Section 166 of the Companies Act, 2017, is pleased to appoint Shahzad Naeem Bokhari as Independent Director of Pakistan Television Corporation Board.
The notification further stated that the government has also approved the nomination of Shahzad Naeem Bokhari as the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTVC) Board Chairman in line with the Pakistan Television Corporation’s Memorandum & Articles of Association (Article 95/95A).
