KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has dismissed the petitions of three suspended officials of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) challenging the action taken against them over allegedly issuing fake pilot licences.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto dismissed the petitions for not being maintainable and observed that the petitioners might seek alternate remedy available under the law if final orders were passed against them.

The three officials had petitioned the SHC in 2020 and challenged their suspension orders and show-cause notices as they were alleged to have breached software protocols by creating user IDs to generate fake pilot licences.

After hearing both sides, the bench in its judgement stated that the discretionary jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution cannot be exercised in a vacuum and it must be grounded on a valid basis showing violation of specific and enforceable legal or constitutional rights.

Such discretion must be exercised in a structured and calibrated manner with due regard to parameters put in place by the Constitution as well as a recent judgement of the Supreme Court, it added.

However, the bench noted that such factors were lacking in the present petitions and the SHC in exercise of jurisdiction vested under Article 199 can neither enter into factual controversies nor decide disputed questions of facts.

It further observed that the Supreme Court in the suo motu case on the subject issue had also passed an order in July 2020 and observed that any interference hampered and stalled the entire process and directed for completion of departmental proceedings in due course without judicial interference.

“It is a well settled principle of law that judgement of Supreme Court is binding on each and every organ of the state by virtue of Articles 189 and 190 of the Constitution,” it concluded.

The CAA submitted that the board of inquiry constituted by the CAA, had investigated the violation/malpractices and found several employees of the authority involved in the issuance of fake licences.

The lawyer for CAA further argued that the apex court had also issued directions to the aviation regulator to take departmental action as well as to register criminal cases against all those employees who were found involved in the fake licences controversy.

He submitted that the petitions were not maintainable as the apex court had already passed an order the on subject issue and even then the petitioners had approached SHC without availing an alternate remedy available to them before competent authority.

Published in Dawn,May 24th, 2022