Islamabad (Web Desk): The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday ruled that advisers and special assistants to the prime minister are not members of the cabinet and cannot be part of cabinet proceedings.
A two-member bench of the IHC comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Ghulam Azam Qambrani heared Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Rana Iradat’s petition, challenging the notification of the Cabinet Division through which Prime Minister Imran Khan had re-constituted the Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCoP) and made his adviser of finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh its chairman and two other advisers – Abdul Razak Dawood and Dr Ishrat Hussain.
The special assistant to the prime minister is not a minister of state or a federal minister but only enjoys the status for the purposes of perks and privileges, the court observed in its 23-page verdict. The aide cannot address the parliament, nor has any executive authority vested in him, it read and added that he also is not a member of the cabinet and cannot take part in the proceedings of the same.
The IHC, on Monday, in its short order on a petition, ruled that unelected advisers and special assistants could not head government’s committees.
