IHC restrains Naeem Bokhari from working as PTV Chairman

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has restrained Naeem Bokhari from working as a state-run channel, Pakistan Television (PTV) Chairman.

Earlier on Thursday, the IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah conducted a hearing on identical petitions against the appointment of Bokhari and advised the counsel for the PTV chairman to peruse the Supreme Court’s decision that had set aside the appointment of Ataul Haq Qasmi as the PTV chairman.

The court noted that the appointment had been made ‘prima facie in violation of the guidelines set by the Supreme Court’. The attorney general was not present despite the fact the court had issued him notice seeking assistance in the case.

Back in November 2018, the Supreme Court declared Ataul Haq Qasmi’s appointment illegal. The court ordered the federal government to appoint a full-time managing director of PTV after fulfilling all legal, procedural, and codal formalities strictly in accordance with the law.

The judgment observed that public officials, particularly heads of ministries who were elected representatives of the people, owed their allegiance and loyalty to Pakistan, the Constitution, and the law. They were obligated to act accordingly and without being influenced by extraneous considerations.