Defying SC orders: Government officials on deputation continue jobs

KARACHI:

Sindh government continues to sit pretty on Supreme Court orders against officers working on deputation and out-of-cadre posts in various departments.

Even though Sindh chief secretary Muhammad Siddique Memon submitted a notification to the apex court last month saying that he had repatriated around 109 officers and employees to their parent departments but documents available with The Express Tribune revealed that most influential officers are still working on lucrative positions.

Deputation is the act of appointing an employee to represent or act for another department while non-cadre means an officer has not been trained for that particular post.



These officers, who have been asked to revert back to their original posts, are working on senior posts in local government, anti-corruption, health, home, education, food, fisheries and livestock departments, and the provincial disaster management authority, said an officer privy to the developments. It is, nevertheless, ironic that most repatriation orders originated from Chief Minister (CM) House where some officers still continue to work against court orders.

For example, the CM's deputy staff secretary, Babar Haider Jalbani, was originally posted as the director for administration and transport in the protocol cell of the Services, General Administration and Coordination Department. However, he continues to work as a non-cadre officer.

Similarly, the CM's personnel staff officer, Asghar Ali Shah, who has recently been demoted from the post of SP to inspector on the Supreme Court orders has not been relieved from this position. "CM House also issued notifications a few days ago to withdraw the positions of four protocol officers, two private secretaries and an IT deputy director but these officers are still working on their positions," said a senior Sindh government official.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for CM House denied that officers were working at CM House against court orders. "We have taken action and sent them [officers] to their original departments," said the spokesperson.

According to the list available with The Express Tribune, Hyderabad Development Authority's (HDA) superintendent engineer of basic pay scale-19 Faheem Akhtar Junejo still works as the director-general at the local government department's monitoring and evaluation cell.

On February 12, the chief secretary issued a notification in which he told the apex court that he has also removed Junejo. An officer revealed, however, that Junejo is still working and he held a meeting at his office as recently as on Wednesday.

There are reportedly seven officers, enjoying senior positions, who have refused to comply with the court orders. These include: works and services department deputy secretary Manzoor Ali Wasan, Sindh Enquiries, Anti-Corruption Establishment Division deputy secretary Abdul Kareem Rind and others.

"We know that the notification has been issued to transfer us but the government has revised its decision given that we are commission officers and action will be taken [only] against non-commissioned officers," said one of deputy secretaries, requesting anonymity.

The chief secretary was not available for comments. Services secretary Jamal Mustafa Syed, who looks after the service matters of all government officers, told The Express Tribune that all secretaries have given him clearance and assured that there is no further officer on deputation in their department and non-cadre employees have also been repatriated. "As per my knowledge, there is no such case. If so, then the secretary concerned will be responsible for it."

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2016.