Lahore commissioner given additional charge

Raja Jehangir Anwar has been relieved of his duties as per orders of the Punjab governor

LAHORE: Lahore Commissioner Abdullah Khan Sumbal has been given the additional charges of not only secretary information and culture but also director general Directorate General of Public Relations (DGPR) on Tuesday.

Whereas, Raja Jehangir Anwar, who is working as an acting secretary information and culture and DG DGPR, Punjab has been relieved of his duties by the order of the governor of Punjab. Jehangir, a BS 18-grade officer posted as an additional director general in DGPR was given both these additional charges by the Punjab government. Anwar has been posted as an additional secretary, Chief Minister Office Punjab, newly created posted, to accommodate former secretary information.



The Lahore High Court was hearing the case against Anwar for his appointment as secretary information. Advocate Sheraz Zaka, the petitioner, argued that Anwar was a BS-18 officer at Punjab public relations department while the government had appointed him as secretary information, a BS-20 post.

In backdrop of the court case, the Punjab government decided several days ago to post commissioner Lahore, a BS-20 grade officer, as secretary information. Sources close to Lahore commissioner revealed that Sumbal had communicated his concerns some time back to the government regarding the anticipated the decision.



They also revealed that Anwar would continue to handle secretary information assignments and operational matters of DGPR from the Chief Minister office, whereas Sumbal would only handle administrative matters. Both, Anwar and Sumbal were not available for comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2017.