ISLAMABAD: While hearing a suo moto case on the privatisation of and severe losses in the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Pakistan’s top court on Thursday ordered the government to remove former special assistant to the Prime Minister Shujaat Azeem, from the Exit Control List (ECL).
During the hearing, Azeem’s counsel revealed to the court that under Azeem’s leadership, the national carrier reduced its annual losses by as much as Rs. 18 billion.
Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, it seems, was convinced by this argument and later directed the authorities to remove Azeem’s name from the ECL.
Following a presentation on the mammoth losses the PIA had incurred, the Supreme Court had last month ordered an inquiry against Azeem and had him placed on the ECL.
The presentation claimed that PIA had suffered losses of upto Rs. 360 billion since 2008, with these losses occurring due to the airline being under political influence, and due to the airline spending more than what it was earning.
The SC, meanwhile, prevented the PIA from recruiting any more pilots until the SC gave a verdict on the PIA’s use of a Markhor on its planes.
The SC had earlier taken suo moto notice of the PIA’s decision to use the Markhor–Pakistan’s national animal–on its plane’s exteriors in a bid to shore up its image globally.
The SC has also ordered the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) to conduct a special audit of the airline for the past decade.