PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has issued notices to the federal energy secretary and three other officials seeking their formal response to a contempt petition against them for replacing the chief executive officer of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company despite a stay order.

A bench consisting of Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Ijaz Anwar issued the order after holding a preliminary hearing into the petition of the recently-removed Pesco CEO, Gul Nabi Syed.

The petitioner said on Jan 12, a high court bench sought comments from the secretary and director-general of the ministry for energy (power division) on his petition besides ordering them to maintain status quo on the matter.

He, however, said chief engineer of the Islamabad Electric Company Arif Mehmood Sadozai got himself posted as the Pesco chief through a notification by the government the same day.

Pesco’s ex-chief challenged his removal despite stay order

The bench adjourned the hearing until Jan 26 and directed members of his staff to fix the case along with the main petition.

The respondents in the petition are Mr Sadozai, DG to the minister for energy (power division) Ghulam Rasool Dumki, secretary of the energy ministry (power division) Rashid Mehmood Langrial and section officer of the ministry Mohammad Hassan Khan.

The petitioner in his main petition had claimed that the federal government had moved a summary for installing the chief engineer of Iesco, Arif Mehmood Sadozai of Dera Ismail Khan district, as Pesco’s chief on political grounds.

He had requested the court to declare the move of the government to replace him as illegal.

A bench of the high court had fixed Jan 26 for the next hearing into the petition and directed the energy ministry (power division) to maintain status quo on the matter until then.

However, the same day the energy ministry issued a notification assigning Mr Sadozai to look after the charge of the Pesco chief executive officer as a stop-gap arrangement purely on temporary basis with immediate effect and until further orders.

The contempt petition is filed through advocate Ghulam Mohyuddin Malik, who could not turn up due to lawyers’ strike because of the killing of senior advocate Abdul Latif Afridi. His assistant informed the bench that Mr Malik would be available on the next hearing.

The petitioner claimed that Mr Sadozai in collusion with other ‘contemnors’ hurriedly at late night hours came to the Pesco Headquarter Peshawar on Jan 12 and broke open the locks of the CEO office and forcibly and unlawfully entered there.

He claimed that the action taken in violation of law and rules by respondent No. 1 (Mr Sadozai) amounted to criminal offence and also liable to be proceeded against departmentally for committing the offence of intimidation.

The petitioner alleged that the respondent had taken over the charge of the office at midnight without observing the prescribed procedure and codal formalities.

He contended that the notification of appointing Mr Sadozai had not been issued in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act, 2017, and rules framed thereunder.

The petitioner requested the court to initiate contempt proceedings against the respondents and award an exemplary punishment to them besides restoring him as the Pesco chief.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2023