SHC moved against proposed privatisation of PIA

[Karachi Aviator]

The People Unity of PIA Employees Union submitted in the petition that the federal government was taking steps to privatise the PIAC and for this purpose amendments had been made to the PIAC (Conversion) Act 2016.

The petitioner submitted that amendments to the PIAC Act were made in 2023 just to provide illegal cancellation of shares and for fresh issuance of shares without due course and requirement of the law, which would allow a friendly takeover of the PIACL by a private company in violation of Article 18 (c ) of the Constitution to hand over the monopoly business of the government of Pakistan, which employs the best technical workers/employees pilots, engineers and other technical staff as well as huge numbers of assets throughout the world.

The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the federal government instead of taking a serious decision to re-establish the highly successful profiting air transport business in the world during the previous decades and always appoints a non-technical and inexperienced commercial aviation staffer to the higher administrative post that is CEO on political and other influential bases, who thus lacks the ability to work as per the requirement. He said that the caretaker government is bent upon privatising the PIAC though it is not its mandate to do so and that the appointment of financial advisor for the privatisation of the PIAC is illegal.

He claimed that such staff always focus on corruption due to which the PIAC gets damaged and fails to compete in the field of the air transport business and is now in position to be in a default.

The counsel submitted that the decision to privatise the PIAC is neither in public interest nor in favour of workers and it may create unemployment, which is already a challenging issue in the country.

The court was requested to declare the proposed privatisation of the PIAC in respect of the sale of shares and management control of the airline as unlawful. The petitioner also sought details with regard of the privatisation proposal before the court.

The matter was taken up before a high court division bench headed by Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi. The counsel for the petitioner, however, sought time to prepare the arguments. The court granting time adjourned the matter.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thenew ... ion-of-pia