PCSIR allowed to conduct promotion proceedings

SHC restrains board from making decisions about grade 19 officers without its permission

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday conditionally allowed the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research's (PCSIR) departmental promotion board to conduct proceedings to consider the promotions of grade 19 officers. However, the council was restrained from making final decisions unless permitted to do so by the court.

A division bench, headed by Justice Sadiq Hussain Bhatti, passed these directives on a petition filed by a PCSIR officer, who had challenged the PCSIR's notification regarding the constitution of a departmental promotion board. The petitioner, Dr Riazuddin, said that the chairperson of PCSIR had issued a notification on June 3, constituting a departmental promotion board to consider the promotions of grade-19 officers, with the chairperson appointed as its head.

He argued that there was no legal provision empowering the chairperson to head the promotion board. Therefore, every action on his part should be deemed unlawful and unconstitutional, he argued. The petitioner pleaded the court to suspend the PCSIR's notification, further requesting it to issue directives for the relevant federal authorities to constitute the board afresh.

The bench issued notices to the secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the PCSIR chairperson and director to file their comments in this regard by July 7.

Meanwhile, the bench conditionally allowed the PCSIR departmental promotion board to conduct its proceedings to consider the promotions of grade 19 officers. However, the board was restrained from making any final decisions without the court's permission.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2015.