IHC rejects request to withdraw stay in KTP case.

ISLAMABAD -- The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has rejected a request of the federal government to withdraw its stay order against its last week decision to remove the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) Chairman Rear Admiral (retd) Jamil Akhtar. The court has also ordered government to submit a written reply.

The former PML-N government appointed Akhtar as the KPT chairman on Nov 23, 2017 for a period of three years, but the PTI government on March 25 removed him from the post prematurely, citing different reasons including alleged irregularities.

The former rear admiral later moved the IHC claiming that the federal government had issued the impugned notification of March 25 without placing the matter before the federal cabinet.

The petition said Akhtar, by virtue of his office as the KPT chairman, had also been one of the trustees of the trust and that once a trustee or the chairman was appointed, then his removal could only be made on the grounds clearly written in the Section 11 read with Section 15 and 15(A) of the KPT Act, 1886

Taking up the petition on March 28, an IHC bench headed by Chief Justice Athar Minallah suspended the order terminating Jamil Akhtar's services and sought a reply on his petition by April 2.

On Thursday, the Additional Attorney General Tariq Khokhar requested Justice Minallah to withdraw the stay order as he sought some more time for submission of a written reply.

The court asked if the federal cabinet had endorsed the decision to remove the KPT chairman. Presenting a report, Khokhar said the federal cabinet had granted the approval.

The judge said the government stated that Jamil Akhtar allegedly committed irregularities. He said if he has been...