Another contempt case?: Sindh govt has violated the orders on officer deputations
SC bench refers the issue to chief justice.
KARACHI:
The government is likely to be embroiled in another prima facie contempt of court case but this time it is going to be the provincial government of Sindh as it has failed to implement a judgment of the Supreme Court on the induction and postings of officers on deputation.
A hint to this effect was dropped by Justice Amir Hani Muslim, a junior member of a two-member Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, which is seized with hearing a complaint filed by a representative of a trader association of Sukkur against the land mafia in the city.
The petition basically agitated the issue of the illegal construction of a commercial building namely Sajjad Plaza in Sukkur city. However, during the course of proceedings, it was noticed by the bench that the induction and postings of officers on deputation from less important departments to more lucrative ones, have marred the functioning of different departments.
The bench then asked the Sindh government to implement the orders already passed by another apex court bench headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan in which all such postings and inductions were ordered to be revoked and all officials on deputation were ordered to be repatriated to their parent departments.
On Friday, the secretary of the services and general administration department, Iqbal Durrani, in compliance of the order of the bench passed on Thursday, submitted a list of 81 officers who were repatriated the night before. Reluctant to believe the statement of the Sindh advocate general and provincial secretary, Justice Hani told the AG that “there must be many more persons on deputation, names of whom have been suppressed by the quarters concerned.”
The bench observed that an order was passed by the chief justice and was apparently disregarded by the chief secretary concerned and decided to refer the issue to the chief justice for prima facie violation of his orders.
The bench adjourned the hearing of Sajjad Plaza case for the next session.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 17th, 2012.
The government is likely to be embroiled in another prima facie contempt of court case but this time it is going to be the provincial government of Sindh as it has failed to implement a judgment of the Supreme Court on the induction and postings of officers on deputation.
A hint to this effect was dropped by Justice Amir Hani Muslim, a junior member of a two-member Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, which is seized with hearing a complaint filed by a representative of a trader association of Sukkur against the land mafia in the city.
The petition basically agitated the issue of the illegal construction of a commercial building namely Sajjad Plaza in Sukkur city. However, during the course of proceedings, it was noticed by the bench that the induction and postings of officers on deputation from less important departments to more lucrative ones, have marred the functioning of different departments.
The bench then asked the Sindh government to implement the orders already passed by another apex court bench headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan in which all such postings and inductions were ordered to be revoked and all officials on deputation were ordered to be repatriated to their parent departments.
On Friday, the secretary of the services and general administration department, Iqbal Durrani, in compliance of the order of the bench passed on Thursday, submitted a list of 81 officers who were repatriated the night before. Reluctant to believe the statement of the Sindh advocate general and provincial secretary, Justice Hani told the AG that “there must be many more persons on deputation, names of whom have been suppressed by the quarters concerned.”
The bench observed that an order was passed by the chief justice and was apparently disregarded by the chief secretary concerned and decided to refer the issue to the chief justice for prima facie violation of his orders.
The bench adjourned the hearing of Sajjad Plaza case for the next session.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 17th, 2012.