ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday reserved a verdict on maintainability of a petition seeking to stop Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan from performing his duties.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah took up the petition that requested the court to constitute a judicial commission to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the issue of dubious licences of pilots.

Advocate Tariq Asad, the petitioner, contended before the bench that Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar’s statement about alleged fake or improper licences of pilots has dented the image of the country.

Last week, Ghulam Sarwar had revealed that as many as 262 pilots, out of a total of 860 in the country, had ‘suspicious flying licences’, who would be grounded immediately.

“Their [pilots] licences are doubtful due to certain reasons including dates of examination and exams. There are some pilots, who did not appear in any paper, out of eight, but managed to get the licences. Among them are those working with the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Airblue, Serene, private clubs and foreign airlines,” he said while talking to the media after presenting the  interim inquiry report on the PIA plane crash in the National Assembly.