Waiting game: IHC stays police promotions to grade-21

Suspended Islamabad IGP, FC deputy commandant challenge supersession.

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday granted stays on promotions in the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) from BS-20 to BS-21 as recommended by the Central Selection Board (CSB) after different petitions challenged the board decisions.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui granted stays on the promotions while hearing petitions filed by suspended Islamabad IGP Aftab Ahmed Cheema, Frontier Constabulary (FC) Deputy Commandant Ghaniur Rehman Wazir, and others who have moved the court against the recommendations.

After issuing notices to respondents, the court clubbed the identical petitions together and adjourned the case till May 22.

The suspended IGP, through his counsel Hafiz SA Rehman, has challenged the CSB recommendation to promote Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Additional IGP Tariq Javed to grade 21. “The petitioner has been made a scapegoat and his career has been set at risk in view of non-submission before political minds,” the petition said.

The petitioner was among senior officers of the cadre whose case was placed before the CSB for consideration, but it was not discussed and a junior official was promoted to grade-21 instead of him, the petition stated.

Wazir’s counsel Masroor Shah contended that his client, who had an unblemished service record and led several successful anti-terrorist operations, was ignored for promotion while his juniors promoted to grade-21.

He maintained that the officials who superseded Wazir have faced inquiries in accountability courts for alleged corruption in arms purchases and some even entered into voluntary returns (VR) with the National Accountability Bureau.

Shah contended that vesting 15 marks into CSB amounts to veto power, under which the members of the board can simply brush aside the entire service record and Annual Confidential Reports (ACR) of an officer and recommend his supersession.

The petitioners have listed the establishment secretary, CSB chairman, Federal Public Service Commission chairman and several police officials as respondents.

After hearing the arguments, the court restrained the federal government from notifying the promotions to BPS-21 and issued notices to the respondents.

Police officials listed as respondents by the petitioners include Dr Muhammad Suleman, Dr Arif Mushtaq, Allah Dino Khawaja, Hussain Asghar, Capt (retd) Ahmad Latif, Capt (retd) Muhammad Ameen, Faisal Shakir, Dr Sanaullah Abbassi, Kamaluddin Tipu, Qudratullah Khan, Dr Mujeebur Rehman Khan and Tariq Javed. They all have been directed to appear before the court in the next hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2015.