Out of turn: Demotions of 29 more cops stayed

LAHORE: Lahore High Court on Monday stayed the demotions of 29 police officials and directed the Police Department to decide the matter of their demotions after hearing them out. Justice Ameer Bhatti passed the order on five petitions filed by SP Rana Masroor, Mumtaz, DSP Iqbal, Mazhar Fareed and Shahzadi Gulfam. Earlier, the judge had stayed the demotion of 12 police officials. The number of cops who have approached the court in this regard has reached 42. The policemen have said that they do not fall in the category of out-of-turn promotions. “IGP Mushtaq Sukhera has misinterpreted the decision of the Supreme Court and has issued a notification on June 23, 2016, demoting us.” The counsel said the authority had not heard the petitioners out. He requested the court to set aside the notification. The judge said the notification of June 23 would be suspended till the IGP had arrived at a decision.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2016.