MUZAFFARABAD: Raja Ghazanfar advocate, who was appointed by the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government as Ehtesab Bureau (EB) chairman, attended his office here on Wednesday, amid an impending legal battle by his predecessor Sardar Rafique Mahmood.
The notification about the termination of contract of Mr Mahmood and his replacement by Mr Ghazanfar was issued, according to official claim, on Monday night, sometime between 8-9 pm.
However, it was circulated in offices on Tuesday shortly before Mr Mahmood was granted interim relief by a single member bench of the AJK High Court until September 11.
Mr Mahmood, who was appointed as EB chairman on August 3, 2012, had maintained in his petition that his was a tenure post and government had got no powers to remove him before the expiry of three years as prescribed by the law.
However, since the notification regarding his dismissal and appointment of Mr Ghazanfar in his place carried the date of August 4, 2014, his petition had become infructuous. His counsel moved an application in the court on Wednesday, seeking amendment to the petition in the wake of the latest development.
However, Justice Tabassum Aftab Alvi said he would refer this matter to the chief justice for appropriate action.
Meanwhile, Mr Mahmood went on a ‘three-day leave’ from Wednesday. In his absence, Mr Ghazanfar attended the office and signed files and responded to mails.
Sources in the bureau confided to Dawn that even though Mr Ghazanfar’s appointment was purported to have been notified on Monday night, he arrived in Muzaffarabad at about 5pm on Tuesday.
However, his “joining report” was submitted in his office by some pro-government officials before the close of office hours on Tuesday, they added.
Mr Mahmood’s counsel Raja Gul Majeed Khan has alleged that the government had issued a backdated notification to frustrate the court decision in favour of his client.
Sources told Dawn that Chaudhry Mohammad Riaz, a non-Kashmiri adviser to the AJK prime minister, had facilitated the appointment of Mr Ghazanfar, who belongs to Mirpur district. In May this year, he was removed from the post of the AJK advocate general.http://www.dawn.com/news/1123756/battle-for-ajk-ehtesab-chiefs-post-heats-up
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