The Supreme Court on Thursday issued orders for appointment of a minority chairperson at the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB). In his remarks during the hearing of a suo motu case about Thar Coal Power Plant, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar questioned for how long the ETPB has been working without a regular chairman. The trust, which manages religious properties and shrines of Hindus and Sikhs who migrated to India following the partition, has been without a chairman since Siddiqul Farooq, appointed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, was declared unqualified by the top court and dismissed in January this year. Observing that minority MNA Dr Ramesh Kumar should be named ETPB chairman, the chief justice directed the additional attorney general to get approval for the appointment of ETPB chairman from the federal cabinet. The chairperson should be from the minority community, he ordered. Published in Daily Times, November 16th 2018.