‘Need of the hour’: Court orders salary bump for BDS chief
Says present situation demands explosives expert be satisfied with job.
Says present situation demands explosives expert be satisfied with job. PHOTO: FILE
PESHAWAR:
The Peshawar High Court has ordered provision of complete facilities and salary increase for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) Additional Inspector General Shafqat Malik, terming it necessary under the present circumstances.
The order was issued on Thursday by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Malik Manzoor Hussain after Malik’s counsel, Bilaluddin Khattak, informed the court that his client, a retired army officer, was appointed as BDS chief in 2009 on a contract basis.
Khattak said in 2010-11, the finance department raised observations and fixed Malik’s monthly salary at Rs58,000, adding that the recovery of dues from his salary before that date was also started along with a freeze in his annual salary increase. He termed the move unconstitutional and illegal.
Meanwhile, Additional Advocate General Rab Nawaz and DSP legal Falak Nawaz told the court the petitioner is an expert in the field of bomb detection.
The chief justice remarked that in the present law and order situation, BDS has a crucial role to play but government officials do not understand its importance while the finance department is creating hurdles in providing facilities for the BDS expert.
After hearing the arguments, the court ordered the government to provide necessary facilities to the BDS chief and increase his salary.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2014.
The Peshawar High Court has ordered provision of complete facilities and salary increase for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) Additional Inspector General Shafqat Malik, terming it necessary under the present circumstances.
The order was issued on Thursday by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Malik Manzoor Hussain after Malik’s counsel, Bilaluddin Khattak, informed the court that his client, a retired army officer, was appointed as BDS chief in 2009 on a contract basis.
Khattak said in 2010-11, the finance department raised observations and fixed Malik’s monthly salary at Rs58,000, adding that the recovery of dues from his salary before that date was also started along with a freeze in his annual salary increase. He termed the move unconstitutional and illegal.
Meanwhile, Additional Advocate General Rab Nawaz and DSP legal Falak Nawaz told the court the petitioner is an expert in the field of bomb detection.
The chief justice remarked that in the present law and order situation, BDS has a crucial role to play but government officials do not understand its importance while the finance department is creating hurdles in providing facilities for the BDS expert.
After hearing the arguments, the court ordered the government to provide necessary facilities to the BDS chief and increase his salary.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2014.