'Intelligence reports no longer considered in promotion of civil servants'

Establishment Division tells Senate panel it is formulating a criterion for elevations

ISLAMABAD: On directives of the prime minister, the Establishment Division has abandoned considering reports of three intelligence agencies for the promotions of civil servants from grade-17 to grade-22.

The Establishment Division’s Additional Secretary in-charge Asad Hayauddin told this on Thursday to a Senate panel when one of its members, Senator Farhatullah Babar, asked him whether the ‘arbitrary reports’ of different intelligence agencies were being considered for promotions.

“If yes, then why they are not given the right to defend themselves against those reports,” he asked.

Responding to the query, Hayauddin said after receiving directives from the PM office on September 6, the division had abandoned using those reports for such considerations. “So no report, against which an officer may have to defend himself, is taken into consideration,” he said.



Chaired by Senator Javed Abbasi, the committee met in parliament house and also adopted a bill besides holding discussion on a rising trend of litigation in different courts against decisions of the Central Selection Board (CSB).

The use and abuse of reports to reject and promote an officer in a selection board has long been a major issue of litigation in courts and it was in 2015 when the Supreme Court ruled that the officer rejected in some board would be allowed to confront those intelligence reports.

The reports by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) have been considered for promotions of civil servants so far.

Senator Farooq H Naek and the chairperson said they had seen such reports and most of the time they were contradictory to each other and were not the right tool to judge the integrity of an officer.

Naek said since he had been involved in fighting such cases in the courts, he knew the 15 overriding discretionary marks of the CSB were also one of major reasons for litigation.

The acting chief of establishment division said they were formulating a policy where majority of the officers would agree to the criterion, adding that this policy would include reformulation of marks.

The committee also decided to set up a sub-committee to examine the Civil Service Act 1973 and the rules made thereunder, the Wafaqi Mohtasib Order, and the Civil Services Tribunal Act and to propose amendments so as to streamline promotions to higher posts in civil bureaucracy.

Senator Babar said appointments of grade-20 and grade-21 officers on grade-22 posts like that of the federal secretary as well as non-implementation of the Supreme Court order to end the 15 discretionary marks were some of the reasons for the current disarray.

He said it had also been observed that officers belonging to particular occupational groups were ignored and officers from outside the cadre were appointed to higher posts in their cadre.



The question as to whether the post of director general military lands and cantonments was a cadre post of the civilian structure and whether this position had been held by officers from outside the cadre for a long time created a stir in the committee. The chairperson of the committee said, “Let’s not discuss that issue on this forum.” Hayauddin said he would give an in-camera briefing on the question.

The committee also adopted a constitutional amendment proposed by Babar seeking to enable an MP to vote on a constitutional amendment bill according to his conscience instead of his party direction. The existing provision negates the spirit of the Constitution and the supremacy of parliament, he said.