ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday directed the federal government to hand the charge of the National Industrial Relations Commission (NIRC) chairman to a senior member of the Commission until a permanent chairman was appointed.
A single bench, comprising Justice Sardar Ijaz Ishaq Khan, heard a petition filed by Umer Baloch against the non-appointment of the NIRC chairman.
Additional Attorney General Rashid Hafeez and the petitioner’s counsel Shoaib Shaheen appeared before the court.
Hafeez informed the court that the summary for the appointment of the NIRC chairman had been forwarded and the matter was under consideration. He requested the court to grant two weeks for the appointment.
The court remarked that the position had been vacant since May 1, and now two more weeks were being sought.
Justice Ijaz inquired why the summary did not state that the senior member should be given the charge of acting chairman until a new appointment was made.
Shoaib Shaheen argued that without a chairman, benches could not be constituted and the NIRC had become non-functional.
He informed the court that workers’ cases from across Pakistan were pending with the NIRC, and lack of a chairman and members was a serious issue.
The IHC directed the government to give the charge of acting chairman to the senior member of NIRC by Monday and adjourned further proceedings until then.
The position of the chairman has remained vacant since Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui retired and resigned from the post.
