ISLAMABAD: The appointment of retired civil servant Mohammad Zaman Wattoo as member estate of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) was challenged before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday, with the federal government and the civic body seeking time to submit their comments on the petition.

The Islamabad High Court chief justice heard the petition filed by Khalid Mehmood through Barrister Qasim Abbasi.

CDA counsel Kashif Ali Malik and Deputy Attorney General Arshad Kayani requested the court to grant time for filing parawise comments on behalf of the CDA and the federal government, respectively.

During preliminary arguments, Barrister Abbasi contended that Mr Wattoo, being a retired civil servant, could not be reappointed in view of Section 14 of the Civil Servants Act, 1973.

He further argued that the post of member estate was a specialist position and the appointee did not possess the exceptional qualifications required for appointment to the post.

Opposing the petition, CDA counsel Kashif Ali Malik submitted that Mr Wattoo’s appointment had been made by the federal government under Section 6 of the CDA Ordinance.

He said three names had initially been placed before a panel headed by the interior secretary. The candidates were scrutinised before a summary was forwarded to the federal government, following which the cabinet approved Mr Wattoo’s appointment.

The counsel maintained that Mr Wattoo had a distinguished administrative career and possessed relevant experience for the position. He said the retired officer had served as member, Board of Revenue Punjab, secretary Prosecution, secretary Food, cane commissioner, additional secretary environment and deputy commissioner.

He also pointed out that Mr Wattoo had held a senior development-management position under UNDP-supported Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals programmes.

Mr Malik further argued that since assuming charge as member estate, Mr Wattoo had initiated several measures against land grabbing and fraudulent allotments in the federal capital.

He suggested that the petition could have been filed because of these actions.

Barrister Abbasi, however, questioned the need to appoint a retired civil servant to the post, asking whether the CDA did not have any serving officer capable of being appointed as member estate.

After hearing the preliminary arguments, the court adjourned the proceedings and directed the respondents to submit their comments on the petition.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2026