ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) was approached on Thursday against the summary moved by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) for appointment of Director General of Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), an attached department of the ministry.
Dr Shahzad Afzal, filed a petition naming the Secretary MoST, Secretary Establishment Division and Acting Director General PSQCA as respondents.
During the first hearing of the case on Thursday Justice Arbab Tahir of Islamabad High Court issued notices to respondents to file their comments, upon the Writ Petition.
The counsel for the petitioner, Raja Saif Ur Rehman, submitted that the proposed appointee is a retired air force officer and has no background of quality standards.
Through the petition, the counsel submitted that the petitioner had challenged the proposed appointment of DG PSQCA on grounds that nepotism-based appointment was to be made in an illegal manner and against the prevailing law.
The petitioner said that appointment of a person having no background in the field of standards and quality assessment was being made whereas the advertisement was not in accordance with Management Scales Policy 2020 rather in violation of said policy.
The petitioner said the appointment was made by a ‘defective and incomplete’ Selection Board and in violation of law laid down by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Proposed appointment was totally biased and seems to be favoring a retired officer from the forces without any lawful reason, he added.
The petitioner claimed that the proposed appointment was to be made against a post of BPS-22 whereas the post of DG as per rules falls in BPS-21 category.
Besides the proposed appointment was to be made in a tailored manner where the experience mentioned in advertisement was not in line with management scales policy rather it was in line with experience of the proposed candidate to favor him.
The petitioner said the proposed appointment was to be made in order of merit as laid down in a management scales policy 2020 but merit was violated and candidates from bottom were picked.
“The proposed appointment was being made without forwarding the score sheet to the cabinet which is a requirement of law mentioned in management scales policy 2020, section 3(vi),” the petitioner said in the petition.
The counsel for petitioner claimed that Dr Shahzad Afzal, a highly qualified candidate, having vast international experience in relevant fields, was the suitable candidate for the post of DG PSQCA.
PSQCA is an organization responsible for maintaining quality and standards of food-non-food products being imported/ produced in Pakistan and plays an important role in the development and wellbeing of citizens.
