Cheema’s appointment challenged in LHC

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday issued a notice to the Punjab government in a petition challenging the appointment of Ahad Khan Cheema, the Higher Education Department (HED) secretary.

Mujtaba Shahbaz, a citizen, filed the petition expressing his concern about alleged anomalies in HED hiring.

Advocate AD Naseem, representing the petitioner, submitted that the respondent was a DMG office in BS-19 and had been working as the Welfare Department additional secretary. He said that the chief secretary (CS), through a notification issued on Sept 12, 2010, had posted Cheema as the HED secretary, a BS-20 post.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that an officer belonging to a grade lower than the requirement could only be posted on a temporary basis, and that too, in the absence of a competent person. He said though a number of BS-20 officers had been awaiting postings, officers of grades below them were being posted to senior jobs because of political considerations. The counsel pointed out that the apex court, in several judgments, had discouraged the practice of such postings and declared them against the interest of service and fair policy.

He prayed that the notification issued by the chief secretary making Cheema’s appointment be set aside.

Data Darbar Attack

The LHC chief justice adjourned the hearing of the suo moto proceedings of the terror attacks on Hazart Ali Hajveri’s shrine till October 22 on the request of the senior superintendent of Police (SSP) who wanted more time to make arrests. Referring to some media reports, the CJ had said that the police should also investigate the involvement of ‘Black Water’.
The CCPO had earlier admitted that inadequate security helped the terrorists reach the main compound, resulting in a large number of casualties.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2010.