Court bars Hafeez from heading Cabinet body

By Uzma Zafar

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday barred the finance adviser Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh from heading the cabinet committee while also declaring the constitution of the cabinet’s body on privatization as illegal.
The plea against the constitution of the cabinet committee was submitted by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the high court.
The IHC bench, headed by Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Ghulam Azam Qambrani, while announcing the verdict, which was reserved earlier, approved the plea of the PML-N against the constitution of the federal cabinet committee.
The IHC annulled the notification issued on 25 April 2019 for the formation of the committee and declared the inclusion of advisers on commerce, investment, and institutional reforms as illegal.
In another decision earlier in the day, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) dismissed a plea challenging appointments of advisers and special assistants.
A two-member bench of the IHC comprising Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Ghulam Azam Qambrani released the reserved verdict in the open court. The verdict was reserved on September 9, after the completion of arguments from both sides.
Earlier, the Islamabad court had released a written order that stated there was no restriction of appointing persons having dual nationality as special assistants to the prime minister (SAPMs).