ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday allowed Air Marshal Arshad Malik to carry out his duties as a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of national carrier PIA.
A three-member bench of SC headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed heard the petition regarding the appointment of the CEO of PIA.
During the course of the hearing Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed remarked that the coronavirus reached the country from airport through abroad and all it happened due to incompetence of the government and everywhere talk was on the coronavirus now and the government didn’t take any measure for containing the virus and the government ordered us to stop working.
During course of the hearing Chief Justice asked the PIA’s counsel to tell him any single thing good about the natioanl carrier adding that it is truth that the PIA was playing with life of the people and asked should we close it?
The CJ said that dilapidated and bad condition planes have been standing on the Karachi airport and if God forbid anything untoward happened so what will happen to people adding that PIA, ASF and Customs have failed to provide facilities to people.
Attorney General, Khalid Javed Khan in his arguments said that a one of American president’s wife travelled on the PIA,she declared the flight the best, to which the CJ said that Air Marshal Noor Khan and Air Marshal Asghar Khan like people were running the affairs of the PIA at that time.
Khalid Javed Khan told the court 12 CEOs of the national carrier have been changed for the last nine years and if institutions control were given to a union then it destroys the institution adding that the union had closed the former Chief of Air Staff in a room and they took help from his friend.
He said that the government has been bearing deficit in running the affairs of the national carrier and “I don’t have any personal interest to keep existing MD on the post and we don’t want to linger the issue and wanted the court verdict as early as it can.
In his remarks, Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed said that one government hires its people in it and other removes it and we know how to run the PIA and we want three year permanent CEO who could bring improvement in the PIA.
Later, the SC has allowed Air Marshal Arshad Mahmood Malik to continue work as a CEO of the PIA. Besides this the CJ also summoned office bearers of the PIA cba union on the next hearing while the court also called a business plan within a month from the PIA managment and cba union.
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