ISLAMABAD, Dec 3: The government suffered humiliation on Tuesday when the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended its abrupt decision regarding sacking of National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) Chairman Tariq Malik.

The sudden removal of the Nadra chief, who was reportedly being threatened for verifying results of the May 11 elections, especially in the ruling PML-N’s stronghold, Punjab, cast serious doubts on transparency of the polls.

The opposition PPP and PTI condemned the removal of the Nadra chairman and called upon the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take action.

The government, through a notification issued overnight, removed the Nadra chairman without giving any reason and appointed a senior official of the authority, retired Brig Zahid Hussain, as acting chairman.

However, Mr Malik moved the IHC on Tuesday morning against the government decision and the court restored his position as chairman, suspending the appointment of acting chairman.

The establishment division issued a notification saying: “The contract appointment of Mohammad Tariq Malik as chairman, Nadra, under the ministry of interior is hereby terminated with immediate effect. Termination of his contract (is) in accordance with the terms and conditions of his appointment.”

According to sources, Nadra was verifying the election results of the National Assembly constituency NA-118 in Punjab, from where PML-N leader Riaz Hussain Malik had won. Some other constituencies of top PML-N leaders were also in line, including those of National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

“Nadra headquarters was opened at 1.30am and the notification was issued regarding Mr Malik’s termination and assignment of the acting charge of Nadra chairman,” the sources said.

“The Nadra chairman was in Lahore when the notification was issued and it was delivered at his residence in Islamabad. However, his wife refused to receive the document,” they said.

Before the court of Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi, the Nadra chairman’s counsel Babar Sattar pleaded that being the head of a statutory body, Mr Malik was holding a tenure position and he could not be removed without due process till completion of his term on Aug 15, 2015. “He has not been provided an opportunity of hearing and no show-cause was issued before his termination,” the lawyer said.

He said the petitioner was already being targeted and threatened due to his unwavering stance on assisting the ECP in its efforts to ensure free, fair and transparent elections by employing latest techniques like biometric identification and verification.

“My client has been facing pressure from the government regarding voters’ verification through thumb impressions.”

An election tribunal, on complaints of wrongdoing in the polls, had asked Nadra to verify results of the elections in Punjab.

However, some PML-N leaders had asked the Nadra chief to avoid the verification, the sources said.

“He was threatened with dire consequences if he complied with the orders of the election tribunal,” they said.

“When Tariq Malik refused to obey the government, it panicked and finally removed him without any justification,” they said.

Information Minister Pervez Rashid was not available for comments.

Leader of Opposition in National Assembly, Khursheed Shah, said the removal of Mr Malik was a sort of rigging and this action of the government showed its mal intention. “The ECP should come out and take a clear position,” he said.

The PTI’s information secretary, Shireen Mazari, alleged that Mr Malik was being penalised for exposing electoral fraud through Nadra data.

In his petition, the Nadra chairman cited the establishment division, ECP and the appointed acting chairman as respondents.

The court was informed that there was no provision for an acting chairman in the Nadra Ordinance. The case was adjourned to Dec 11.