Court suspends accountant general’s transfer orders

Seeks law in support of claim that the Auditor General can issue the directive on his own

LAHORE: Lahore High Court on Monday suspended till the next hearing a transfer order for Accountant General Punjab Zafar Hasan Reza observing that it was prima facie issued without the prime minister’s approval.

Justice Sayed Mansoor Ali Shah said the prime minister was the competent authority for issuing such orders. He asked the federal government to file a detailed reply in the matter by May 31.

Earlier, a law officer submitted that the Auditor General of Pakistan and not the prime minister was the competent authority on transfer and posting of the accountant general. The judge asked him to inform the court about the law in support of his argument at the next hearing.

Petitioner’s counsel Advocate Hafiz Tariq Nasim had submitted that he was an officer of the Pakistan Audit and Accounts Service. He had been serving as the accountant general of Punjab in basic pay scale (BS) 21 since September 2015, under the Controller General of Accounts Pakistan, he added.

Nasim said the petitioner would be retiring on April 6, 2018. He said he was eligible for promotion to the BS-22 but was transferred by the AGP to the office of finance member to deprive him of the opportunity. “The finance member office is a two-year tenure assignment. This transfer cannot be made without the prime minister’s approval,” he said.

Nasim said several BS-22 officers were available for the finance member assignment but his client was chosen despite his BS-21 status. He said if his client accepted the assignment he would be deprived of the opportunity to get promoted to the offices of the controller general of accounts, the additional auditor general of Pakistan, the Secretary to the Government of Pakistan. “It is a dream of a career officer to serve in one of these offices,” he said.

The petitioner’s counsel further said that the transfer orders were issued in violation of the law. He said the impugned order was issued without bringing the matter to the petitioner’s notice which was a violation of principle of natural justice and requirement of Article 10-A of Constitution (right to fair trial).

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2016.