PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday directed the provincial government to respond to a petition challenging the ongoing process for the appointment of the chief executive officer to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Oil and Gas Company Limited and the functioning of the acting chief for around three years.

A bench consisting of Justice Sahibzada Asadullah and Justice Wiqar Ahmad also put the provincial advocate general on notice, seeking his response to the petition filed by one of the candidates for the post, Amjad Ali.

It fixed May 30 for the next hearing into the petition for declaring the ongoing recruitment process for the post of the company’s CEO illegal, unconstitutional, and void.

The petitioner also requested the court to ask acting CEO Nasir Khan under what authority he has been holding his office since Aug 31, 2021.

Petitioner also questions functioning of acting CEO

He sought the court’s orders for other respondents, including the provincial chief secretary, principal secretary to the chief minister, and secretary of the energy and power department, to initiate the process of recruitment for the position of the KPOGCL’s CEO afresh in a transparent and fair manner and keep the acting chief away from the scrutiny and selection process to avoid conflict of interest.

The petitioner prayed the court to declare him an eligible candidate for that post, keeping in view his academic qualifications and professional experience in the required field.

Advocates Fida Gul and Mian Mohammad Imran appeared for the petitioner and insisted that the Public Sector Companies (Corporate Governance) Rules, 2013, had been introduced along with relevant provisions of the Companies Act, 2017, for governing the business and management of public sector companies, and the same applied to the KPOGCL.

They said that the then CEO, Usman Ghani Khattak, got some ailment due to Covid-19 and on Aug 31, 2021, the board of directors of the company passed a resolution to authorise Mr Nasir Khan to perform as the acting CEO.

The lawyers contended that the BoD got the power to appoint the acting CEO as a stop-gap arrangement for a three-month period only in line with the policy guidelines regarding the chief executive officers of public sector companies.

They added that despite the passage of around three years, acting CEO Nasir Khan held that position.

The counsel pointed out that an advertisement was published on March 2, 2024, regarding recruitment for the post of KPOGCL chief, and since the petitioner was an eligible candidate, he applied for the position.

They, however, said the petitioner’s candidacy was rejected over “deficient experience.”

The lawyers argued that the respondents’ act of not short-listing the petitioner for the post was illegal and against the rules.

They pointed out that the petitioner was an experienced person, who, in the past, was twice shortlisted and even appeared in the interview for the post.

The counsel claimed that the acting CEO had applied for the post and was shortlisted for the same in a “brazen violation of rules and regulations and a mockery of merit.”

They argued that previously, the post was advertised by the energy and power department, and even selection was made by the search committee headed by the chief secretary, but now the process was changed altogether.

The lawyers added that there was no justification for assigning the process of the CEO’s selection to the BoD instead of the energy and power department.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2024