House in order: Democratic dispensation should be different from autocracy says SC
37 prosecutors on contract have been removed, court told by department.
KARACHI:
Ad hocism or makeshift arrangements could be justified during autocratic rule but cannot be defended in a democratic dispensation, observed a two-member monitoring committee of the Supreme Court on Tuesday in suo motu proceedings with reference to the widespread violence, extortion, kidnapping for ransom and beheadings in Karachi.
The present democratic set-up is now three-and-a-half years old yet ad hoc policies are being pursued. This should not happen in democratic rule, observed Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, who was holding the hearing at the Karachi registry of the SC.
Earlier, the top officials of the Sindh government took different stands. Sindh Prosecutor General (PG) Shahadat Awan, who heads the prosecution department, and the advocate general who represents the entire provincial set-up, told the court that all of the 37 prosecutors who were hired on contract, are being removed. The PG has been asked to post prosecutors to the anti-terrorism courts on the recommendation of the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC).
The bench observed that interference in administrative matters was not in the sphere of the apex court. When the government fails to perform its moral obligations, we have to interfere to our utter dislike, the bench said, directing the government to make all appointments at the higher and senior posts on merit and to bring to an end the policy of ad hoc or contractual appointments.
The bench rejected a report submitted by the prosecution department on details of prosecutors and other employees hired on contract and posted to the courts. We want to know how many employees working in the courts are permanent and how many are on contract, the committee observed.
The PG stated that there are 383 sanctioned posts for prosecutors in Sindh and 281 of them are filled. Ninety-two of them are vacant.
How many of them are appointed through the SPSC, asked Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany. Contract employment is normally a favour, he added.
We have removed 37 prosecutors hired on contract, replied PG Shahadat Awan and AG Abul Fattah Malik.
This should have been done before our interference and notice, said Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali. The bench then asked the PG and AG to submit all information by Thursday.
Earlier, the committee was informed that the ATCs would be shifted to an appropriate place within fifteen days. The budget of these courts was also being increased and additional staff would also be posted soon. The bench said that all recommendations made and actions taken so far should be submitted before the court in writing.
The committee adjourned the proceedings till Thursday afternoon when the Sindh police is required to submit a progress report of investigations into cases of murder, beheading, terrorism, target killing during the period under review.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2011.
Ad hocism or makeshift arrangements could be justified during autocratic rule but cannot be defended in a democratic dispensation, observed a two-member monitoring committee of the Supreme Court on Tuesday in suo motu proceedings with reference to the widespread violence, extortion, kidnapping for ransom and beheadings in Karachi.
The present democratic set-up is now three-and-a-half years old yet ad hoc policies are being pursued. This should not happen in democratic rule, observed Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, who was holding the hearing at the Karachi registry of the SC.
Earlier, the top officials of the Sindh government took different stands. Sindh Prosecutor General (PG) Shahadat Awan, who heads the prosecution department, and the advocate general who represents the entire provincial set-up, told the court that all of the 37 prosecutors who were hired on contract, are being removed. The PG has been asked to post prosecutors to the anti-terrorism courts on the recommendation of the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC).
The bench observed that interference in administrative matters was not in the sphere of the apex court. When the government fails to perform its moral obligations, we have to interfere to our utter dislike, the bench said, directing the government to make all appointments at the higher and senior posts on merit and to bring to an end the policy of ad hoc or contractual appointments.
The bench rejected a report submitted by the prosecution department on details of prosecutors and other employees hired on contract and posted to the courts. We want to know how many employees working in the courts are permanent and how many are on contract, the committee observed.
The PG stated that there are 383 sanctioned posts for prosecutors in Sindh and 281 of them are filled. Ninety-two of them are vacant.
How many of them are appointed through the SPSC, asked Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany. Contract employment is normally a favour, he added.
We have removed 37 prosecutors hired on contract, replied PG Shahadat Awan and AG Abul Fattah Malik.
This should have been done before our interference and notice, said Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali. The bench then asked the PG and AG to submit all information by Thursday.
Earlier, the committee was informed that the ATCs would be shifted to an appropriate place within fifteen days. The budget of these courts was also being increased and additional staff would also be posted soon. The bench said that all recommendations made and actions taken so far should be submitted before the court in writing.
The committee adjourned the proceedings till Thursday afternoon when the Sindh police is required to submit a progress report of investigations into cases of murder, beheading, terrorism, target killing during the period under review.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2011.