SHC issues notices to authorities for offering 156 officers permanent jobs

Petitioners allege that employees on lower grades were made permanent instead of them.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court issued notice on Monday to the Sindh chief secretary, Board of Revenue secretary and advocate general on a petition challenging the regularisation of almost 156 officers in the Sindh revenue department without the public service commission.

Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, who headed the bench, issued notices on a petition filed by two employees of the revenue department who had challenged the regularisations.

Rabia Khatoon and Faiq Ali Jagirani, who were allegedly denied job regularisation, had gone to the court.

They submitted that in November 2012, the authorities concerned had moved a summary for regularising contractual employees for which a selection committee was constituted on April 9.



The services and general administration secretary, Abdul Haleem Sheikh, and additional secretary, Abdul Rehman Sheikh, objected to the bogus regularisations and also refused to sign the minutes of the meeting convened to consider the nominees.

To trample the merit, the authorities concerned with mala fide intention convened the committee’s meeting on Sunday in which incompetent officers from other departments approved the regularisations in different grades from BPS-17 to BPS-20.

The petitioners alleged that the bogus regularisations were allowed through amendments made to the Sindh Revenue Board Act 2010 by inserting sub-section 3 to its section 5 by issuing an official notification on March 1.

They argued that the employees were made permanent in negation of the service laws and rules and based on favouritism and nepotism. They pleaded to the court to set aside the official notification regarding service rules.

After the initial hearing, the bench issued notice to the chief secretary, board of revenue’s secretary and advocate general, to file their comments by the next date of hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2013.