The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday reserved its verdict on the maintainability of a petition seeking the removal of Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan from office for bringing the issue of pilots’ dubious licences out in the open.
The petition, filed by one Advocate Tariq Asad, submitted that the remarks tarnished the image of the country in the international community.
The petition was filed a day after the European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA) has suspended the authorisation for the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to operate in Europe for six months. In another related development, the United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Agency suspended PIA flight operations from three airports — Birmingham, London Heathrow and Manchester.
Recalling the EASA decision, the petitioner said if a pilot possessed a fake/dubious licence, the minister should have taken action against them instead of bringing the matter in the knowledge of the National Assembly from where the national and international picked it up.
Subsequently, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah reserved his verdict on the matter which he said to announce later.
