ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declared the appointment of Director General Chief Air Marshall Authority (CAA) retired Khalid Chaudhry as null and void and issued a notification to cancel his appointment, DawnNews reported.

A three-member of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was hearing the case pertaining to the delay in the construction of the New Benazir Bhutto International Airport in the country’s federal capital.

During the hearing, the court ruled that Chaudhry’s appointment did not fulfill legal requirements and subsequently issued a notification to cancel it.

The court moreover declared unsatisfactory the Civil Aviation report submitted in the court.

The bench said that action would be taken against those who had sanctioned the construction of the New Benazir Bhutto International Airport. It also directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) team to complete investigation against irregularities in the construction of the airport at the earliest.

The court moreover stated that all contractors should assist the FIA team, adding that in event of non-cooperation, legal action would be taken.

The bench said that a detailed judgment on the matter would be issued later.

The Supreme Court had earlier taken up the case on a private petition that the delay in the construction of the airport had pushed the original cost of Rs35 billion to Rs73 billion, and might escalate further.

Petitioner Asaf Fasihuudin Vardag, a lawyer, wanted the Supreme Court to direct the authorities to appoint “an eligible officer as the project manager” in place of the incumbent CAA Director-General Air Marshal (retired) Khalid Chaudhry.