Citizen’s objection: Notices issued on plea against prisons chief

Petition challenges fitness of head of prisons.

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court on Friday issued notices to the chief secretary and the home secretary on a petition challenging the appointment of the inspector general of prisons.

Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh also directed a provided government law officer to ensure the presence of some senior officer from the office of the home secretary along with relevant record at the next hearing.

The petition has been filed by Malik Abdul Rashid advocate. It says as a citizen, he has serious reservations to the appointment of Mian Farooq Nazeer as Prisons IG.

The petition alleges that Nazeer mismanaged warders in Multan jail and remained suspended from service for nine months and seven days. He was also punished with withholding of an increment. When he attended the 93rd National Management Course at the National Management College, Lahore, the dean remarked: “Having little exposure beyond his own area of operation, he approached the requirements of the course with a narrow knowledge base pertaining to public policy issues.

The officer displays passable analytical skills with some ability to suggest solutions to situations of moderate complexity and lacked leadership qualities. His oral communication and presentation skills showed some improvement but his written work remained a comparatively weaker area of his performance.

He has a pleasant personality but sometimes falls prey to self-projection, which further exposes his flaws. His peers rate him lower as a leader and a professional but slightly batter as a friend.”

The petitioner prayed to the court to issue directions to the secretaries to replace Nazeer with a better officer.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20^th, 2012.