In violation: SHC stops officer on deputation from working

The petition submitted that Bhutto’s posting was in violation of orders.

KARACHI: The secretary of Sindh Workers Welfare Board (SWWB), Muzaffar Bhutto, was stopped from working on Wednesday by a division bench of the Sindh High Court.

Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar were hearing a petition filed by a senior officer, Fazil Shah Kazmi, who was removed from the post of the SWWB secretary.

In his petition, Kazmi stated that Bhutto was removed on the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) which directed the federal and the provincial governments to repatriate all officers posted on deputation from one government department to another.

The petition submitted that Bhutto’s posting on deputation for the second time was in violation of the orders of the apex court, hence he should be stopped from working. After hearing the initial arguments of Kazmi’s counsel, Barrister Zamir Ghumro, the bench stopped Bhutto from working and ordered its office to issue notices to the provincial government, the SWWB and Bhutto.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan had ordered the provincial and federal governments to repatriate all the officials on deputation in May. However, the Sindh government is said to be violating these orders because many officers are still working on deputation in different departments.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2012.