ISLAMABAD, July 6: Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday while hearing a petition sought details of 235 appointments in the Pakistan Housing Authority (PHA) allegedly made by former federal minister for housing and works Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat.

The petitioner Mohammad Asif advocate had earlier challenged the recruitment process for the said appointments and alleged that most of the appointees were the blue-eyed boys of former federal minister as they hailed from his constituency.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui took up the petition and after preliminary hearing observed that irregularities in the process of appointments, if found, would not be tolerated and the violators would be sent to jail for depriving eligible candidates from the jobs.

Advocate Asif cited secretary ministry of housing, managing director PHA and director to the minister housing as respondents.

He said the PHA advertised 235 posts of basic pay scale BPS-2 to BPS-18 in the newspapers in November last year and mentioned prerequisites for each position. The authority received hundreds of applications for the different positions and the petitioner also applied for a post of assistant director legal, he added.

He further said after shortlisting, the PHA officials conducted interviews of at different locations across the country but former federal minister Faisal Saleh Hayat disregarded the merit list and appointed his constituents and the men of PML-Q MNAs on the available positions.

He claimed that the persons who were appointed at senior posts do not possess required qualification and/or experience and they were not even eligible to apply for these posts. He requested the court to set aside the alleged illegal appointments made in the PHA.

The court issued notices to all the respondents and adjourned the hearing till the last week of July.