Court suspends notification on media adviser’s appointment | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Court suspends notification on media adviser’s appointment

Pakistan Press Foundation

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday suspended the provincial government’s notification on appointment of Najiullah Khattak as media advisor in the newly established Media Cell of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Malik Manzoor Hussain and Justice Ikramullah Khan suspended the notification about the appointment of Najiullah Khattak, the PTI vice-president for Karak district, as media advisor on basic pay scale-19, and issued notices to the provincial government through chief secretary, secretary Information, Public Relations and Culture Department, director information Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Najiullah Khattak.

Shaukat Hayat Khattak, a journalist and a candidate for the post, had challenged the appointment in the high court, in which he requested the court to declare the notification as void as Najiullah was appointed purely on political basis and not qualified for the post. The petitioner’s lawyer Shakeel Ahmad submitted before the bench that the provincial government advertised the post in the newspapers and sought applications till December 19, 2013. He submitted that after proper procedures, the candidates were shortlisted for the post along with the petitioner, but there was no name of Najiullah Khattak in the shortlisted candidates for the post.

The petitioner’s lawyer pointed out that after 40 days of closing date, the provincial government and director information included the name of Najiullah Khattak in the shortlisted candidates and then appointed him on July 7, 2014 as media advisor (BPS-19) in the KP Media Cell in violation of merit and on political consideration. He said the appointed media advisor did not possess the requisite qualification to be appointed on the post.

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