K & P

Held back: Govt restrained from replacing warders

However, they were soon dismissed without a concrete reason on February 16.

Our Correspondent February 25, 2015

PHOTO: AFP

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday temporarily restrained the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government from filling posts of warders removed on February 16, weeks after their formal appointment.

Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Musarrat Hilali issued the order while hearing two connected writ petitions filed by around 400 warders removed from duty by the provincial administration.

The court directed the superintendent headquarters prison, inspector general prisons and the K-P home and tribal affairs secretary to submit their written comments before the next date of hearing.

In total 796 warders, deployed at various prisons of the province, were removed from service 25 days after their appointment. They protested against the government order outside Central Prison Peshawar, saying they had moved the high court to ensure the cancellation order is withdrawn.

The petitions say the employees were appointed against advertised posts after passing all the proper tests, interviews and medical fitness examinations conducted by authorities. However, they were soon dismissed without a concrete reason on February 16.

“The respondents are restrained from filling the said posts against which the petitioners were appointed,” is the interim relief granted.

The petitions state the government published an advertisement on February 23, 2014 and also issued a corrigendum on April 4 in an Urdu newspaper. Both invited applications to fill up 800 posts for warders/constables in various jails.

It pointed out the recruits had been dispensing their duties for over 20 days and all of a sudden their appointments were cancelled. The petition claims the removed employees had fallen victim to the political rivalry between two groups of the ruling PTI. “It appears the headquarters superintendent has succumbed to agitated MPAs and cancelled the appointment order in a colourable exercise of powers vested in him,” states the petition.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2015.