JournalismPakistan.com
November 08, 2018

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court on Thursday declared Ata ul Haq Qasmi’s appointment as chairman of Pakistan Television (PTV) illegal.

The court had reserved the judgment on February 26.

A two-member bench comprising Justices Umar Ata Bandial and Yahya Afridi announced the verdict. It said the rules were not followed in the appointment of Ataul Haq Qasmi as Chairman PTV.

Qasmi, a veteran columnist, and poet was appointed the chairman of the state-run television in December 2015. He resigned in December 2017.

The Supreme Court verdict said: “Taking into account the lapses and illegal actions committed by Mr. Qasmi as a Director and the Chairman of PTV, Mr. Pervaiz Rashid, Minister for Information, Mr. Ishaq Dar, Finance Minister and Mr. Fawad Hasan Fawad, Secretary to the PM, we hereby direct that the amount of Rs.197,867,491/- be recovered from them.”

The court ruled that all administrative orders passed by Qasmi as chairman were also illegal.