Telecom News Bulletin

Six independent sacked directors of the National Information Communication Technology Research & Development (ICT R&D) Fund have approached the Lahore High Court (LHC), Rawalpindi Bench, against their sacking from the Board of Directors (BoD) by the Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT) on the directives of its minister in charge, Sardar Latif Khosa.

In a writ petition filed in the LHC, Wahajus Siraj, a nominee of the broadband industry, has termed the notification of “de-notifying” the directors from the BoD of the R&D Fund as illegal and in contravention of mandatory provisions of the articles of the Association of R&D Fund, Company, the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, relevant statutes as well as principles of natural justice.

The petitioner maintained that he, along with five other independent directors, was selected on the BoD of R&D Fund through a transparent nomination and selection process from the telecom operators, academia and corporate sector as defined in the Article of Association of the Company and neither the MoIT nor its minister, who also happens to be the chairman of the BoD, had any special powers to “de-notify” the independent directors at its will.

Hearing the petition on July 16, 2010, Justice Ijaz Ahmed of LHC, Rawalpindi Bench, had issued notices to the MoIT and the minister in charge for hearing in the coming week. The petitioner maintained that he and other “de-notified” directors were not appointed on the basis of personal or political considerations in an arbitrary manner, but through a transparent process as representatives of telecom industry whose contribution comprises the R&D Fund.

The petitioner went on to say that six independent directors’ board attracted the anger of Sardar Latif Khosa when his brother-in-law was not short-listed as a candidate for the position of CEO of the Fund, as the Human Resource Governance Committee (HRGC) of the Board was informed by the HEC that the MBA and PhD degrees of the candidate were not recognized.

It is interesting to note that Dr Sohail Naqvi, Executive Director, HEC, was also among the six independent directors removed on the order of the minister. The petitioner submitted that he and other five directors refused to oblige the “illegal” orders of the BoD chairman, the minister in charge, and thus he has taken a vindictive action in total disregard of the rules, laws and constitution.

The minister by doing so wants to control the Fund by appointing his cronies to the top managerial positions of the Fund, and a Board of handpicked individuals, willing to abide by his diktat as he has already done in case of appointing an acting company secretary of his choice without getting the Board’s approval, said the petitioner.

The de-notification order of six directors, issued by the MoIT on 7.7.2010, did not provide any reasons for their removal and the MoIT has also published an advertisement on 17.7.2010 for inviting nominations for fresh appointment of directors on the board of R&D Fund.

Industry experts believe that Sardar Latif Khosa is trying hard to get full control of two rich organizations under his control, ICT R&D Fund and USF (Universal Service Fund), administering funds of billions of rupees for promotion of telecom and IT research and development in the country.