Restoring merit: SC orders officers to give up charge of their posts

Apex court’s 2-member bench has asked for a list of all junior officers working on senior posts in violation of laws.

KARACHI:

The Supreme Court ordered on Tuesday 155 officers, who had earlier been moved across departments, to relinquish charge of the posts they had been given unlawfully.

The apex court’s two-member bench, comprising Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Amir Hani Muslim, has also asked for a list of all junior officers working on senior posts in violation of laws.

These directions came during the hearing of various petitions and applications filed by some officers.

On Tuesday, the services and general administration department’s secretary, Naseer Jamali, said that 136 officers had been sent back to their original departments. The secretary said, however, that the government had decided to retain about 15 officers at their new posts.  The bench asked him to explain why. The judges then referred to  cases relating to the unlawful shifting of officers from one department to another to the larger bench’s hearing in Islamabad on April 16.

Secretary under pressure?

Naseer Jamali stunned the judges when he pleaded them to allow him join the food department where the government had transferred him from his post as the secretary of services and administration. He admitted he was facing resistance in complying with the court’s order. Turning down his request, the bench  adjourned the hearing till April 11.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2013.