New Punjab IGP asserts CCPO is his subordinate

Inam Ghani assumes charge of a daunting role

LAHORE:

Rejecting CCPO Umer Shoaib Sheikh’s claim that Lahore police is a separate entity, the newly appointed IGP, Inam Ghani, asserted on Wednesday that the city police chief was his subordinate and answerable to his office like any other officer of Punjab Police.

CCPO Sheikh, speaking to the media on Tuesday night, had said, “My stance is that under chapter 3, article 6 of the Police Order, city police is a separate entity. I realised this from the stance of former IGP Mushtaq Sukhera about his role in the Model Town tragedy during a judicial inquiry. He said that district police is a separate entity. City police chief is all powerful and responsible for all his actions.”

The IGP, commenting on the CCPO’s stance, said, “His point of view is totally incorrect. PPO (provincial police officer) has a statutory/mandatory role in CCPO’s posting under article 11(2) of Police Order 2002 and CCPO is under the operational control of PPO under article 16(4) of Police Order 2002. PPO as ex-officio secretary is the head of police department under article 11(5) and CCPO has the administrative and financial power as a head of an attached department under article 16(3) of Police Order 2002 which CCPO has to exercise under the PPO.”

Meanwhile, former IGP Shoaib Dastgir did not attend the ceremony held at the Central Police Office (CPO) to hand over the baton of command to his successor.

Ghani’s first media talk as IGP revolved around explanations about his and the CCPO’s powers, future of officers who had gathered on the call of Police Service of Pakistan colleagues to question the government policy over the transfer of Dastgir, rule of law and police officers’ role as part of the government policy implementation machinery.

He told media persons that he, being the PPO, was the commander of all the police establishments under the Police Order 2002.

He said the CCPO was his subordinate as a field officer like a regional police officer. He continued that under the law the whole police were under the command of the PPO.

About being comfortable with CCPO Umer Sheikh, he asserted that the government officers were not posted on their choice but by the government. If an officer would not perform his duty, he would not be comfortable, the IGP said. He added that he was comfortable with any officer who performed his duty well and according to the law.

Ghani also said that the government’s prime job was making policies and the officials were supposed to implement them. He said that wherever the government ordered him to perform duty, he would do it.

Dastgir had been transferred after he reportedly expressed displeasure before the federal and Punjab governments over the appointment of Umer Shoaib Sheikh as the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) of Lahore without consulting him. The schedule of the ceremony where the new IGP assumed charge had to be amended due to Dastgir’s absence.

On the other hand, a large number of senior police officers of the CPO attended the ceremony, including those who had expressed solidarity with the outgoing IGP. Before the ceremony, the new IGP met Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.

Ghani continued that government’s prime job was making policies and the officials were supposed to implement them.

He said that wherever the government ordered him to perform duty, he would do it.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2020.