Court seeks replies from govt, CAA

ISLAMABAD – The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday issued notices to the federal government and others on a petition challenging an advert that sought applications from international companies to privatise three airports in Pakistan.

On petition moved by the Employees Unity of Civil Aviation Authority (EUCAA) through its Chairman Roa Muhammad Aslam, IHC judge Aamer Farooq directed the respondents — the federation of Pakistan through secretary aviation, Aviation Division, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Adviser to the Prime Minister on Aviation and Chairman Privatization Commission of Pakistan — to submit their replies within two weeks and adjourned the hearing till April 6.

The petitioner said that the CAA through an advertisement on February 7 invited applications/proposals from international companies to privatise three international airports — the New Islamabad International Airport, the Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore and the Jinnah International Airport Karachi.

The petitioner said that under Section 3 (2) of the CAA Ordinance, the CAA was a body corporate, having perpetual succession and a common seal with power to acquire and hold property both moveable and immoveable.

The contended that in the impugned advertisement it has been stated that the companies (after award of contract) shall be responsible for operation, management and development works, administration and maintenance of airport buildings, allied infrastructure, equipment, systems and other facilities, future expansions of the airport infrastructure including runways, taxiways, car parks etc.

The petitioner contended that the unexpected move concerning privatisation of three major airports, where a major part of the workforce of CAA is deployed, has created a serious sense of insecurity among thousands of employees. “All of us are surprised why major components of a profit-yielding organisation are being privatised.”

Petitioner’s counsel Hafiz Arfat Ahmad said that the financial performance report of CAA for 2015-2016 reflected that the CAA earned more than Rs50 billion during the said year.

He prayed the court to declare the advertisement illegal, unlawful, violative of Section 6 of the Civil Aviation Authority Ordinance 1982/ Privatization Commission Ordinance 2000 and against the interest and security of Pakistan.

Source: The Nation