Sooner rather than later : LHC wants IGP appointed in a month

Court adjourns case and orders filing of compliance report on next hearing

LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on Friday directed the federal and Punjab governments to appoint a permanent inspector general of Punjab police within a month.

The CJ further directed the governments to form, within the same period, provincial and district- level public safety commissions as envisaged by Police Order 2002. He further adjourned the further hearing till June 17. The chief justice was hearing an interest petition which challenged the appointment of an acting IGP and sought the enforcement of a number of provisions of the Police Order. A citizen, Abdul Razzaq, filed the petition through Advocate Saad Rasool.

The counsel argued that appointments of IGPs and CCPOs should be made on the recommendations of the duly constituted National Public Safety Commission. He said the commission had never been properly formed since the promulgation of the police order in 2002.



The lawyer said the police order also envisaged that IGPs, CCPOs or DPOs must not be transferred before the expiry of their three-year term. It added in case a transfer was to be made before the end of a term, it would be done through the commission. He pointed out that four IGPs had been transferred since 2013 after average tenures of nine months. Likewise, eight CCPOs had been transferred in Lahore alone over the last three years, he added.

During the hearing, a provincial law officer told the court that the Police Order 2002 had been amended recently. He said it eliminated the role of National Public Safety Commission in the appointment of an IGP. He added the provincial government would now appoint the provincial police chief from a panel of three eligible police officers recommended by the federal government.

To this, Chief Justice Shah ordered the government to ensure appointment of a permanent IGP in the province within a period of not more than a month. The CJ also directed that the appointment of a permanent IGP would for a fixed tenure of three years as desired by the Police Order 2002. He adjourned hearing for one month with orders to the government to submit a compliance report.



In this case, the court appointed senior lawyers Asma Jahangir and Khwaja Harris as amicus curiae (friends of the court) for assistance. Recent amendments to the Police Order 2002 provided an alternative selection process to fill the coveted spot of the Punjab inspector general of police. This was stated by provincial minister for law Rana Sanaullah.

To iron out legal hurdles in the selection of the provincial police chief, the Punjab government amended the order, allowing the federal government to send three names for the IGP slot. The article of the Police Order 2002, which states the provincial government shall, out of a panel of three police officers recommended by the National Public Safety Commission (NPSC) from a list provided by the federal government, post a police officer of the rank of Inspector General of Police as provincial police officer, was amended.

The ordinance with amendment in the above mentioned article of PO 2002, according to sources, has been signed by Punjab Governor Rafique Rajhwana. The new procedure allows the federal government to recommend three names for a potential PPO candidate directly to the provincial government without the recommendation of the NPSC.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2017.