Set aside: Court declares CPWB head’s appointment illegal

CJ expresses his anger over unlawful posting continuing for four years.

LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on Thursday declared the appointment of Fatima Sheikh as Child Protection and Welfare Bureau director general as illegal. It ordered the Punjab to fill the post within 15 days.

The CJ issued this order on the petition of Advocate Sheraz Zaka. While hearing the matter, CJ Mansoor was annoyed that an illegal appointment persisted for four years as there was no provision for an ad-hoc or acting charge in the law. The judge said the rule of law must prevail and appointments based on nepotism will not be tolerated.

Advocate Zaka argued that Fatima Sheikh could have not been appointed as the DG as she belonged to the Information Group, whereas the requisite for the post is that the candidate must hail from the District Management Group. He argued the appointment should be declared illegal as it was without merit.

The court had previously given the administration of CPWB the option to the fix irregularities on its own. The counsel argued that according to Service Rules of Child Protection Welfare Bureau 2010, the CPWB DG should be a Grade-19 officer and belong to either the Punjab Management Services (PSM) or District Management Group (DMG). He added Fatima was a Grade-18 officer from the information group. The lawyer continued that she had been serving as acting DG for the last four years and nobody could be appointed on acting charges for more than six months, as per the service rules. Sheraz said the appointment should be set aside.

Child labour is a menace for the province and the country as 22 million children in Pakistan are out of school, he said while quoting a recent survey. He pointed out less than 60% of the population is less than 30 years of age and the number of out of school children amply showed the dismal state of affairs.

A law officer, appearing before the court, said the appointment of labour inspectors across Punjab has been ensured. The CJ ordered the secretary for labour to present a report on the workings of the inspectors. He also ordered the official to define their role in eradicating child labour.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2017.