LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday suspended the removal of Punjab Information Commission (PIC) chief commissioner Mehboob Qadir Shah by the caretaker government.

The interim cabinet issued a notification on Jan 20 and removed Mr Shah from his present position of chief information commissioner at the PIC.

Mr Shah, a retired district & sessions judge, challenged his removal before the court. He was first appointed in 2018 for a period of three years and later his tenure was extended for another term in 2021.

Advocate Safdar Shaheen Pirzada argued on behalf of the petitioner that the caretaker government misused its power only to please the bureaucracy. He said the bureaucracy of the province was annoyed with various decisions passed by the petitioner in favour of the public as chief information commissioner.

He said there was no provision of law under which the caretaker government could remove the petitioner before the expiry of his tenure. He stated that the relevant law provided only two grounds of misconduct and physical/mental incapacity for the removal of a commissioner of the PIC.

He asked the court to set aside the impugned notification for being unlawful.

Justice Shahid Karim suspended the removal of the petitioner and sought a reply from the government within a fortnight.