–PM Imran summons list of all officers appointed ‘illegally’ since Aug 2016
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has summoned a list of individuals appointed in government departments without the approval of the federal cabinet since Aug 2016.
PM’s Principal Secretary Azam Khan, in a letter to all federal secretaries and heads of divisions, directed them to send the lists by April 30, and said all these appointments would be declared illegal.
Declaring all such appointments which were made without getting the approval of the federal cabinet/government as illegal, void and without jurisdiction, Azam Khan asked the in-charge of all divisions to share this list with the cabinet secretary who will present it before the federal cabinet on May 5.
“ The list shall, inter alia, include all such appointments also which were made pursuant to the delegated powers of the Federal Cabinet to a Federal Minister/Secretary, being illegal, void and without jurisdiction,” reads letter of Secretary to the Prime Minister dated April 24, 2020.
Islamabad High Court, in ICA No.36/2020, vide judgment dated April 23, 2020, has held as follows: “We have no doubt in our minds that the reappointment of Respondent No. 1 as Member and Chairperson and the initial appointments of Respondent No.2 and Respondent No.3 were not made by the Federal Government as explicitly provided under the Act of 2010 and, therefore, they were without jurisdiction, void and non-est.”
It is pertinent to mention that the Supreme Court of Pakistan, in its judgment reported as PLD 2016 SC 808 (Mustafa Impax case) dated 18th August 2016, had declared that the federal government included the Prime Minister and his or her Cabinet.
The PM, or any other minister/secretary, cannot exclusively and solely represent the federal government, and whenever any law requires that a decision be made by the federal government, then it should be the decision of the cabinet.
