KARACHI: The federal government on Tuesday filed an appeal in the Supreme Court (SC) challenging the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) verdict that declared the termination of 1,200 employees of the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) illegal.
The appeal stated that the high court did not take into account important legal points while handing down the judgement. No approval of the then prime minister was sought for such massive appointments, it added.
Moreover, the appeal said the appointments were made against merit without fulfilling the legal requirements, including the issuance of advertisements for inviting applications.
The SHC had set aside a KPT notification regarding the termination of 1,200 employees who were hired during Babar Ghauri’s tenure as federal ports and shipping minister.
It is pertinent to mention here that Babar Ghauri and others are facing charges of massive corruption of around Rs2.8 billion in Karachi Port Trust (KPT) through illegal appointments during the time that he was federal minister for Ports and Shipping, between 2008 and 2013.
On September 15, 2019, the court while approving a reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), had issued non-bailable arrest warrants against Babar Ghauri and other accused.
