IHC reinstates Islamabad mayor suspended by federal govt.

Byline: Malik Asad

ISLAMABAD -- The IslamAabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday suspended the three-month suspension of Islamabad Mayor Sheikh Anser Aziz and reinstated him to his position until final adjudication of the petition he has filed to seek contempt of court proceedings against the federal government.

Last week, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government suspended Mr Aziz, who belongs to the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), over corruption charges for 90 days.

Earlier on Feb 17, IHC Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani had issued a restraining order against suspension of the mayor when the federal cabinet was about to suspend him.

On Feb 13, the Local Government Commission, headed by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Capital Development Authority Affairs Ali Nawaz Awan, had decided to proceed against Mr Aziz over a number of charges.

During the Feb 13 meeting, acting Chief Metropolitan Officer Humayun Akhtar, who is also the CDA member (engineering), had filed a reference with the commission against the mayor.

Mr Awan had recommended the mayor's suspension for three months until an inquiry was completed into allegations of utilising services of two dozen staff members for personal use and official vehicles beyond his entitlement.

However, the federal cabinet recently suspended Mr Aziz for alleged misappropriation in the award of a contract for the bus stand in G-9.

During Thursday's hearing, Mr Aziz's counsel Kashif Ali Malik argued that the government had previously tried to remove him illegally and with mala fide intention, but the court in its Feb 17 order had restrained the government from taking any adverse action against him.

He said that the suspension of the mayor was not on the agenda of last week's meeting of the commission which was also attended by the mayor. However, after he left the meeting, ecretary of the commission Ali Sufyan hurriedly added the suspension of Mr Aziz to the agenda.

The lawyer said the...