Last-minute transfers: SC restrains govt from implementing orders
Establishment secretary claims CDA chairman requested transfer, which he denies.
Supreme Court. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Over two dozen transfers ordered by the prime minister on the last day of the government have earned him the ire of the Supreme Court.
A three-member bench on Monday directed the prime minister’s principal secretary to submit an explanation on why he conveyed verbal orders from the PM to transfer Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Tahir Shahbaz on the last day of the government.
After restraining the government from implementing the transfer orders of Shahbaz and Tariq Mahmood Pirzada -- the man who was to replace him -- the bench directed Principal Secretary to the PM Muhammad Ayub Qazi to submit a concise statement on Tuesday. The bench, headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, with Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan its members, took up the transfer issue.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took suo motu notice of the transfer and said it was against the spirit of an apex court judgment in a case filed by bureaucrat Anita Ayub last November.
“On March 13, I had been asked by the PM’s principal secretary to transfer Tahir Shahbaz as head of CDA. The reason cited for the transfer is that he himself had asked for a posting other than CDA chairman”, said Establishment Secretary Taimur Azmat Usman.
The federal secretary also told the bench that 24 other transfers were made on the last day, adding that although a few transfer orders might have been completed, most officers still have to take their new charges.
All the orders which still have to be implemented will not be carried out, the secretary assured the bench when the judges asked him to furnish details of last day transfers and postings.
‘Avoiding the unlawful’
“I never asked for a transfer. I only suggested that it is better to transfer me than to make me comply with unlawful orders,” said Shahbaz.
He said he had met the establishment secretary on March 16 and asked him to consult him before appointing environment director on the CDA Board.
“We are not supposed to manufacture steel spine for bureaucrats, but what we can do is to protect them from unconstitutional steps,” said Justice Khawaja while referring to an SC judgment of last November when it was maintained that the bureaucrats would not be transferred before their required period of appointment without justifiable cause being established in writing.
The court also separated Cabinet Secretary Nargis Sethi and Islamabad Chief Commissioner Pirzada from the case as they had nothing to do with the transfer orders.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 19th, 2013.
Over two dozen transfers ordered by the prime minister on the last day of the government have earned him the ire of the Supreme Court.
A three-member bench on Monday directed the prime minister’s principal secretary to submit an explanation on why he conveyed verbal orders from the PM to transfer Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Tahir Shahbaz on the last day of the government.
After restraining the government from implementing the transfer orders of Shahbaz and Tariq Mahmood Pirzada -- the man who was to replace him -- the bench directed Principal Secretary to the PM Muhammad Ayub Qazi to submit a concise statement on Tuesday. The bench, headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, with Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan its members, took up the transfer issue.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took suo motu notice of the transfer and said it was against the spirit of an apex court judgment in a case filed by bureaucrat Anita Ayub last November.
“On March 13, I had been asked by the PM’s principal secretary to transfer Tahir Shahbaz as head of CDA. The reason cited for the transfer is that he himself had asked for a posting other than CDA chairman”, said Establishment Secretary Taimur Azmat Usman.
The federal secretary also told the bench that 24 other transfers were made on the last day, adding that although a few transfer orders might have been completed, most officers still have to take their new charges.
All the orders which still have to be implemented will not be carried out, the secretary assured the bench when the judges asked him to furnish details of last day transfers and postings.
‘Avoiding the unlawful’
“I never asked for a transfer. I only suggested that it is better to transfer me than to make me comply with unlawful orders,” said Shahbaz.
He said he had met the establishment secretary on March 16 and asked him to consult him before appointing environment director on the CDA Board.
“We are not supposed to manufacture steel spine for bureaucrats, but what we can do is to protect them from unconstitutional steps,” said Justice Khawaja while referring to an SC judgment of last November when it was maintained that the bureaucrats would not be transferred before their required period of appointment without justifiable cause being established in writing.
The court also separated Cabinet Secretary Nargis Sethi and Islamabad Chief Commissioner Pirzada from the case as they had nothing to do with the transfer orders.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 19th, 2013.