Sources said that his name was picked up for the reappointment by the high-ups of the Petroleum Ministry, but Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif rejected the summary and directed the Cabinet Division to re-advertise the position. Following the rejection of the summary, Amir Naseem knocked at the doors of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), seeking stay order in his favour for continuing work as Member Gas OGRA for the next four years, but the court didn''t give him stay order, consequently he was retired on December 22.
According to sources, the SGNPL, the largest gas utility of the country, is lobbying for the reappointment of Amir Naseem to serve the company interests. They added that for the reappointment of Naseem, the Petroleum Ministry has not issued any advertisement.
Officials said that after the retirement of Naseem, the OGRA once again has become dysfunctional due to lack of quorum. They said as per law, presence of three out of four members is obligatory to take any critical decision, but at present the OGRA has only two members ie Chairperson and Member Finance, while Member Oil has not been appointed since mid 2014, after the retirement of Sabir Hussian.
As per law, the Petroleum Ministry is short-listing three persons after conducting interviews for such positions, but for the re-appointment of Amir Naseem, no advertisement was given in the national media, which is against the set rules and regulations.
When contacted, Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said, "I do not know the issue. But if rules allow, he can be a good choice." When contacted, Federal Secretary Ministry of Petroleum Arshid Mirza said he was unaware of any such development and has not signed any such summary. However according to officials, the Cabinet Secretariat has started sending all OGRA-related matters to the Petroleum Ministry and all appointment-related summaries are being dealt by the Joint Secretary (Admin).