KPRA officers challenge promotion denial

A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), comprising Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Waqar Ahmad, has issued notices to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary, Director General of K-P Revenue Authority (KPRA), and the Advocate General of K-P in a petition challenging the denial of promotions to Grade-18 officers of the KPRA.

The petition, filed by Aftab Ahmed and others through Advocate Khalid Rehman, argued that KPRA officials appointed directly in Grades 17 and 18 under the KPRA Act 2013 have been working in the same grades for years without being promoted.

The counsel contended that whenever higher posts fall vacant, instead of promoting eligible officers, the government brings officials from other departments on deputation, which amounts to discrimination and is contrary to judgments of superior courts.

He further informed the court that under the 2013 Finance Act, KPRA service rules were framed, providing 18 posts in Grade-18 with a channel of promotion to Grade-19. However, after the KPRA Act was amended in 2022, Section 10 empowered the Chief Minister to appoint any government officer to Grade-18 director posts for three years, closing the door of promotion for existing KPRA officers.

The petitioners argued that they had left their previous departments, where promotion opportunities were available, to join KPRA under earlier rules. Now, they claimed, their career progression has been blocked, leaving them confined to Grade-18 until retirement, which they termed as unjust and unconstitutional. They maintained that the new arrangement violated Articles 4, 25, and 27 of the Constitution and several Supreme Court judgments that bar promotion of deputationists over existing employees.

After hearing the arguments, the bench sought replies from the provincial government, KPRA, and the Advocate General.