SC order: ‘Civil servants not bound to comply with illegal orders’

Observes officers cannot be posted as OSDs except for ‘compelling reasons’.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that civil servants are not bound to comply with illegal directives or come under the influence of their seniors or political executives while discharging their duties.

A three-member bench of the apex court was hearing a petition filed by civil servant Anita Turab against what she claimed were “illegal” directives given to civil servants by their seniors or political executives.

The petition was filed following the Wahida Shah incident, in which the Pakistan Peoples Party candidate had slapped a polling staff member during a by-election.

The judgment, penned by Justice Jawad S Khawaja, stated that recruitments, promotion and termination of the civil servants must be done according to the constitution and be based on merit.

“Give careful consideration to the selection of officers. Never select men for responsible posts either out of any regard for personal connections or under any influence, for, that might lead to injustice and corruption. Select for higher posts men of experience, men firm in faith [as they will] not fall an easy prey to temptations,” the judgment stated.

“Civil servants owe their first and foremost allegiance to the law and the constitution. They are not bound to obey orders from superiors which are illegal or are not in accordance with accepted practices; instead, in such situations, they must record their opinion, if necessary,” the bench observed.

The court further said that officers should not be posted as officers on special duty (OSD) except for compelling reasons, “which must be recorded in writing and are judicially reviewable.”

“If at all an officer is to be posted as [an] OSD, such postings should be for a minimum period and if there is a disciplinary inquiry going on against him, such inquiry must be completed at the earliest,” it said.

The petitioner had sought the standing of the civil service to be restored as service of the state, not of any transient government.

She also sought corrective institutional measures to revert the civil service to rule-based management practices in accordance with the letter and spirit of applicable laws, rules and precedents of the court.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2012.