The Supreme Court of Pakistan. PHOTO: TMN
ISLAMABAD: The country’s top court on Monday directed the federal government to immediately remove the head of the federal capital’s educational institutes regulatory authority.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim took strong exception to the appointment of Moinuddin Ahmad Wani, a grade-19 officer on a grade-20 post.
The court issued the order on a contempt plea filed by former Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) director-general Shahnaz Riaz challenging her removal from the post on April 7, 2015, in violation of court’s orders.
Wani is the brother of Prime Minister’s Press Secretary on Media Coordination Mohiuddin Wani.
“Is it a kingship that an officer of the Customs Department has been appointed as FDE head?” the bench questioned.
“The court will not allow such illegal appointments,” the bench observed.
Both the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) and the Establishment Division secretaries appeared before the court.
Earlier, Deputy Attorney-General Sohail Mahmood on behalf of the division secretary filed a reply over the appointment of Wani.
The reply said that on October 27 last, the CADD secretary sent a summary to the Establishment Division, stating that according to the FDE recruitment rules, the post of DG was to be filled 100 per cent on a promotion, and failing that through transfer.
The reply said that at that time, there was no officer in the FDE eligible to be promoted to the post.
It said that a requisition for appointment against the post on a contract basis for a period of three years had been forwarded to the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC).
Since the appointment through FPSC takes some time, the division proposed names of three officers of grade-19, to be appointed to the post. The prime minister later approved the posting of Wani out of the three names, it said.
The reply stated that the posting of Wani was an interim arrangement till the appointment of a regular DG as none of the officers available in the feeding cadre had been considered by the controlling division.
The bench rejected the reply and directed the CADD secretary to send a fresh summary for the appointment of an eligible officer on the top slot.
Regarding the removal of Riaz, the reply stated that it was because of abuse of power, lack of interest and leadership qualities that she was removed.
Regarding her arrears and salary, the reply stated that the applicant had signed her pay bill for November and December respectively which had been submitted to the AGPR.
The bench directed the CADD secretary to clear all her arrears and pending salaries. The hearing of the case is adjourned until February 17.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government Colleges Teachers Association (FGCTA) in a statement demanded the appointment of a professional from federal government colleges as DG.
In a press statement issued here, the association said that since the establishment of FDE, the DG post had been reserved for the FG colleges.
“Rules of recruitment for DG are very much loud and clear and for a long time, the office was held by senior professors of FG colleges who played their good part for the growth of the education system. But later, political involvement and bureaucratic interventions paved the way for outsiders to become the FDE DG,” said FGCTA President Prof Manzar Zafar Kazmi
Published in The Express Tribune, February 2nd, 2016.
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