PM Khoso jumps into the array by twisting Supreme Court Orders
SAEED MINHAS
ISLAMABAD: A one-on-one interview for the state run Pakistan Television
during prime time was enough for the caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar
Khan Khoso to turn the tables on chairman of the PTV board and revert
his orders of sidelining the officiating managing director Qazi Mustafa
Kamal thus initiating a roller coaster of a ride for at least a dozen
officials. A superior Court’s orders to declare transfers and postings
by the caretaker prime minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso illegal have become
such a discretionary tool in the hands of PM’s PS Khawaja Siddique
Akbar that even Mir Khoso seems to be oblivious of these facts, revealed
the sources in the make-shift PM House. This is not a plot of a TV
serial but a summary of an ongoing power game in the state run Pakistan
Television Corporation known as PTV. We revealed the first episode of
this game yesterday where chairman of the corporation managed to win the
first round by relieving the acting MD of PTV for failing to follow the
ruling of Islamabad High Court (IHC). Islamabad court had removed the
then Managing Director Yusuf Baig Mirza (YBM) was sent home for
occupying the seat for over four years without qualifying for the
position through an open merit selection. Now officiaiting MD is back,
riding on the misconstrued orders of Supreme Court whereby trafsfers
made by PM were revoked but routine reshuffling was allowed to keep the
organizations running smooth. Officiating MD PTV Qazi Kamal was relieved
of his duties by the chairman of the board of directors of PTV on
Fridayevening. Federal Secretary Information, Agha
Nadeem happens to be the chairman of the 13-member board of directors of PTV by virtue of his office. Chairman had retrieved the charge of MD from Qazi Kamal on the basis of trespassing the orders of the Islamabad High Court (IHC). The court according to the officials of the ministry has clearly asked Qazi to perform day to day functions of the PTV until a new MD is appointed after properly advertising the post and scrutinizing the candidates for their relevant qualifications. Contrary to the orders of IHC, officiating MD was found orchestrating an advertisement in the media for a permanent MD just to accommodate himself, revealed the insiders. Qualifications sought for the new MD were considered a joke by many in the media industry as it asked for more administrative experience than technical expertise to run multiple TV channel s. Ignoring the orders of the IHC and even of Supreme Court, officials further revealed, officiating MD was found victimizing officers by transferring them without following proper procedure of putting up the cases to the board of directors or to the chairman. PTV officials privy to these developments informed that officiating MD was interested in making some back door deals with private production houses and was asking the concerned officials of the evaluation committee to bypass the routine procedures and let him collect the mini serials for PTV Home. Evaluation Committee is supposed to review the productions before accepting them. However, when the director programming, Sajjad Ahmed argued, he was transferred to a post which was not even vacant, thus leaving two officers on same post. An official which had
lesser qualification and counterfeited age credentials was instead appointed as director programming by Kamal on Friday to ensure that his deals remain on line and intact, disclosed the PTV officials. The matter was brought to the notice of the chairman, who after seeking explanation had to ask Qazi Mustafa Kamal to return the charge of MD to chairman’s office without transferring him to any other office. The twist to this tale came when Mustafa Kamal asked the director news in PTV to run his tickers that he will continue to hold the charge of his office despite orders of the chairman of the board. Failing which, Qazi Kamal approached the caretaker prime minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso on
the pretext of interviewing him just on the eve of his departure from caretaker responsibilities. Instrumental in this regard was Agha Masood Shoorsh—a crony of the past government and has survived all the purging of the courts due to his high connections despite being a daily wager and holding a director’s position. Khawaja Siddique Akbar, PS to caretaker prime minister, who happened to have misled Mir Hazar Khan Khoso on transferring several MDs and later eat the humble pie because of the court’s intervention, masterminded the restoration orders of Qazi Kamal on his old post, informed sources in PM House. Ironically, officiating MD Qazi Kamal and Agha Shorsh designed the
PM’s interview with the help of a lawyer, Arif chaudhry. Therefore, none of the routine anchors or professional host from PTV was taken along rather hosting of interview was assigned to an amateur Arif Chaudhry. While the interview was going on, Siddique Akbar was finalizing the terms and conditions with Agha Shorsh and Qazi Kamal, informed the staff of PM House. Misleading the prime minister, Khawaja Siddique Akbar maneuvered once again and made the prime minuster to believe that even this internal matter of PTV falls under the preview of PM House. Reasons cited to restore Qazi Mustafa Kamal and over write the orders of the chairman in contravention of the rules of procedures was Supreme Court Orders of May 2013, whereby Courts had stopped the caretaker PM from replacing the policy makers of public entities. The court has also stated in the same orders that routine transfers and postings with a reason can be carried out as per routine. However, Khawaja Siddique finally convinced the PM Lhoso to sign the restoration orders of Qazi. The saga just did not end there. Qazi Mustafa soon after returning to the office on evening of Saturday, removed director news PTV and incharge of PTV world for not obeying his orders fo running a tickers in his favour the last night. The buck did not stop there, another director was removed from his post and demoted as controller while an ex cadre officer Butter was elevated to take charge of oifficiating director news of PTV. The onslaught of Qazi Kamal is still going on and we will come back with the rest of his orders in our next episode. However, when contacted Qazi was not available for comments and niehter was Agha Shorsh or Arif Chaudhry.
Nadeem happens to be the chairman of the 13-member board of directors of PTV by virtue of his office. Chairman had retrieved the charge of MD from Qazi Kamal on the basis of trespassing the orders of the Islamabad High Court (IHC). The court according to the officials of the ministry has clearly asked Qazi to perform day to day functions of the PTV until a new MD is appointed after properly advertising the post and scrutinizing the candidates for their relevant qualifications. Contrary to the orders of IHC, officiating MD was found orchestrating an advertisement in the media for a permanent MD just to accommodate himself, revealed the insiders. Qualifications sought for the new MD were considered a joke by many in the media industry as it asked for more administrative experience than technical expertise to run multiple TV channel s. Ignoring the orders of the IHC and even of Supreme Court, officials further revealed, officiating MD was found victimizing officers by transferring them without following proper procedure of putting up the cases to the board of directors or to the chairman. PTV officials privy to these developments informed that officiating MD was interested in making some back door deals with private production houses and was asking the concerned officials of the evaluation committee to bypass the routine procedures and let him collect the mini serials for PTV Home. Evaluation Committee is supposed to review the productions before accepting them. However, when the director programming, Sajjad Ahmed argued, he was transferred to a post which was not even vacant, thus leaving two officers on same post. An official which had
lesser qualification and counterfeited age credentials was instead appointed as director programming by Kamal on Friday to ensure that his deals remain on line and intact, disclosed the PTV officials. The matter was brought to the notice of the chairman, who after seeking explanation had to ask Qazi Mustafa Kamal to return the charge of MD to chairman’s office without transferring him to any other office. The twist to this tale came when Mustafa Kamal asked the director news in PTV to run his tickers that he will continue to hold the charge of his office despite orders of the chairman of the board. Failing which, Qazi Kamal approached the caretaker prime minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso on
the pretext of interviewing him just on the eve of his departure from caretaker responsibilities. Instrumental in this regard was Agha Masood Shoorsh—a crony of the past government and has survived all the purging of the courts due to his high connections despite being a daily wager and holding a director’s position. Khawaja Siddique Akbar, PS to caretaker prime minister, who happened to have misled Mir Hazar Khan Khoso on transferring several MDs and later eat the humble pie because of the court’s intervention, masterminded the restoration orders of Qazi Kamal on his old post, informed sources in PM House. Ironically, officiating MD Qazi Kamal and Agha Shorsh designed the
PM’s interview with the help of a lawyer, Arif chaudhry. Therefore, none of the routine anchors or professional host from PTV was taken along rather hosting of interview was assigned to an amateur Arif Chaudhry. While the interview was going on, Siddique Akbar was finalizing the terms and conditions with Agha Shorsh and Qazi Kamal, informed the staff of PM House. Misleading the prime minister, Khawaja Siddique Akbar maneuvered once again and made the prime minuster to believe that even this internal matter of PTV falls under the preview of PM House. Reasons cited to restore Qazi Mustafa Kamal and over write the orders of the chairman in contravention of the rules of procedures was Supreme Court Orders of May 2013, whereby Courts had stopped the caretaker PM from replacing the policy makers of public entities. The court has also stated in the same orders that routine transfers and postings with a reason can be carried out as per routine. However, Khawaja Siddique finally convinced the PM Lhoso to sign the restoration orders of Qazi. The saga just did not end there. Qazi Mustafa soon after returning to the office on evening of Saturday, removed director news PTV and incharge of PTV world for not obeying his orders fo running a tickers in his favour the last night. The buck did not stop there, another director was removed from his post and demoted as controller while an ex cadre officer Butter was elevated to take charge of oifficiating director news of PTV. The onslaught of Qazi Kamal is still going on and we will come back with the rest of his orders in our next episode. However, when contacted Qazi was not available for comments and niehter was Agha Shorsh or Arif Chaudhry.
When we get these kind of people who cannot even operate a simple email address than certainly they will be dependandant on their personal secretaries or wheeler dealers. they may be honest but then they dont even know how and who is selling them and this story is a classic case that how Khawaja siddique akbar has sold PM Khoso.
ReplyDeletewhy is supreme court so silent on carnage in PTV? very strange perhps ppp is no more in govt
ReplyDelete