Appointment of PM’s aides challenged in apex court

The federal government’s authority to appoint and keep a large number of advisers and special assistants to the prime minister, with the status of federal or state minister, came into question when a petition was filed in the Supreme Court, seeking to declare such appointments illegal.

The joint petition moved by the Islamabad High Court Bar

Association and Rawalpindi Bar Association argued that the special assistants and advisers were neither elected members of parliament nor part of the cabinet as per the Constitution, yet more than a dozen of them were enjoying executive authority.

The petition asks the court to declare that advisers and special assistants to the prime minister with the status of federal ministers or ministers of state were not entitled to any financial benefit, including salaries, allowances, perks and privileges.

It highlighted that since the prime minister functioned in the domain of trust under Article 5 of the Constitution, he was obliged to obey the law like other citizens of Pakistan.

While exercising his executive authority, the petition argued, the prime minister’s discretion was neither brazen nor arbitrary but subject to the Constitution, as he had taken the oath to discharge his duties and perform function solely in accordance with the Constitution.

However, the executive actions by unelected advisers and special assistants, rather than by people’s representatives, are as if the democracy is at war with itself, the petition argued.

The petition requested apex court to direct the respondents to surrender all the salaries and other perks and privileges from the date of assuming of office till their removal, since their appointments were against the Constitution and law of the land.

The exercise of any executive authority by the respondents was also against the law and Constitution,

pleaded the petition moved through Advocate Jehangir Khan Jadoon by Mohamed Arshad Khan and Ghulam Dastgeer Butt.

Hearing a suo motu case about measures undertaken to prevent the spread of coronavirus on Monday, Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed had expressed his disapproval by describing that an army of assistants and special advisers had overtaken the cabinet, making the entire cabinet redundant.

The petition pleaded that soon after the ruling Pakistan Tekreek-e-Insaf (PTI) took the reins of government, Prime Minister Imran Khan appointed 25 federal ministers, four ministers of state, five advisers, and 14 special assistants, while the appointments and reshuffles were still ongoing.

The Constitution in its interpretation clause of Article 260 only had an oblique reference to special assistants, and it was silent on their appointment, the petition said.

To supply this omission, Rule 4(6) of the Rules of Business 1973 came in aid of the prime minister, but since the rules could not override the constitutional provision, such appointments were illegal, the petition contended.

In a nutshell, the status, powers and rights of a federal minister or a minister of state could not be conferred upon unelected advisers and special assistants to the prime minister, nor could they participate in or attend cabinet proceedings conducted by the prime minister, the petition argued.