PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday issued a stay order, suspending the provincial government’s order to remove the Kohat Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education chairman by abruptly ending his deputation and returning his services to the parent department.

A bench consisting of Justice Irshad Qaiser and Justice Syed Afsar Shah directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary and elementary and secondary education secretary to submit comments in reply to a writ petition filed by KBISE chairman Aqal Zaman Khattak challenging his removal from the said post.

Advocate Anwarul Haq appeared for the petitioner and said his client was a University of Peshawar, who was made the KBISE chairman two years ago on deputation for three years.

He said few days ago, the chief minister ordered his client’s removal from the post and his rejoining the University of Peshawar.

The lawyer said the order came at a crucial time when the secondary school certificate examinations were under way.

He said neither his client was given any show cause notice before removal nor did anyone inform him about the reason for the abrupt end of deputation.

The lawyer said the order of the chief minister was illegal and therefore, the court should set it aside. He added that the act of the provincial government had created doubts about the credibility of his client, which was an injustice to him.

REPORT SOUGHT: A bench consisting of Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Roohul Amin Khan gave one-month time to the provincial government and other respondents for submitting detailed reports about the presence of a large number of rats in the provincial capital, which had attacked and injured several persons and caused the death of a child.

It directed additional advocate general Umar Farooq Adam to submit until April 28 the reports by the health secretary, director general of health services, Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar and Peshawar deputy commissioner on the steps taken to address the issue.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by a citizen, Dr Hussain Ahmad Haroon, who requested the court to order the relevant authorities to clean the city of rats the size of cats, which attack and injure citizens.

When the bench took up for hearing the case the additional advocate general sought some more time for submitting reports on the matter on behalf of the respondents.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2016