LAHORE: A petition has been filed before the Lahore High Court, challenging the appointment of PML-N’s loyalist and ex-MNA Naseer Ahmed Bhutta as the Punjab chief information commissioner.
Petitioner advocate Chaudhry Shoaib Saleem stated that the appointment of Naseer Ahmad Bhutta as chief information commissioner had been made purely on a political basis by ignoring the rules. He stated that Bhutta was elected as MNA from Lahore in 2008 on PML-N’s ticket, which clearly shows that he had a long and very close association with the ruling political party led by Nawaz Sharif.
He stated that Bhutta was also president of the PML-N’s Lawyers Forum and two days before his appointment as chief information commissioner he resigned as Pakistan’s additional attorney general, a post that was given to him in 2013 by ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
He stated that a number of applications of the right to information were pending with the chief information commissioner and being a political boss of the commission, Bhutta could hamper access to information in important cases. He stated that the impugned appointment was made in violation of the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act, 2013.
He stated that under Section 5 of the act, the commissioner should not hold any other public office or any other office of profit or be connected with any political party and should not engage himself in any business or profession.
He stated that impugned appointment was made by the ruling party in order to gain certain political favours. He requested the court to set aside the impugned appointment being illegal and without lawful authority.
Published in Daily Times, October 24th 2017.