The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction with the federal government's response and summoned the official record of amendments made to the rules governing the chairing of High-Powered Selection Board (HPSB) meetings.
Justice Inaam Amin Minhas heard the case filed by senior civil servants who challenged their exclusion from consideration for promotion from Grade 21 to Grade 22. Terming the federal government's reply unsatisfactory, the court questioned the reasons behind the petitioners' exclusion from promotion. "The government's response fails to explain why the petitioners were denied promotion," the judge remarked.
The court directed the federal government to produce the official record of the amendments made to the Establishment Division's rules before the next hearing.
Representing the petitioners, Barrister Umair Ijaz Gilani, Shoaib Shaheen and Faisal Naqvi argued that last-minute amendments were made to the rules to allow the deputy prime minister to chair the HPSB meeting in place of the prime minister.
The lawyers further contended that while the prime minister has the discretion to nominate someone to preside over the board, the rules cited to support the change had neither been notified in the official gazette nor were they known to any civil servant until now.
The petitioners argued that Deputy PM Ishaq Dar and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's participation in the HPSB meeting was unlawful, asserting that only the prime minister can lawfully chair such meetings.
The court asked the government counsel why the explanation offered relied heavily on technicalities and directed that the full record of any amendments or changes to the relevant rules be submitted before the next hearing.
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