Promotions case: Federation challenges IHC order

IHC single bench had suspended promotions of several bureaucrats .

ISLAMABAD:

The government has filed an intra-court appeal in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to set aside an order of a single bench against the promotions of bureaucrats.

Additional Attorney General (AAG) Afnan Karim Kundi filed the appeal on Thursday seeking suspension of the operation of Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui’s July 27 short order together with the detailed judgment as and when issued till the disposal of the intra-court appeal.

The petitioners had challenged promotion of junior officers from BPS-20 to BPS-21 by the Central Selection Board (CSB) in May this year.

The AAG contended that the reasons behind the short order were not known to the appellant as the detailed judgement has not yet been issued.

The AAG said that the order was against both the facts on record and the law applicable thereto.

Kundi argued that the order was passed without listening to the other side since none of the private respondents were properly served notice
nor heard. Only the federation’s arguments were heard before passing the order, he said.

He further argued that what the order actually and fundamentally set aside is a matter of policy regarding promotion of federal government’s civil servants to BPS 20 and 21 - contained in an office memorandum - and had given overriding effect to the 15 discretionary marks allocated to CSB. “It is the discretion of the government to introduce and revise its promotion policy decision from time to time and the court cannot substitute the policy decision with its own opinion,” Kundi stated.

Justice Siddiqui had set aside the promotions of over 300 bureaucrats on July 27 and directed the federal government to revise the criteria and reconsider the promotions of the officers whose names have been deferred during the recent CSB meeting.

The superseded officers belonging to the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), Police Service of Pakistan (PSP), Pakistan Customs Services (PCS), Inland Revenue Service (IRS), Secretariat Group, Engineering Service of Pakistan Railways and Medical Group of Pakistan Railways had challenged the recommendations in the IHC.

The court had also declared that the entire process carried out by the CSB on the basis of the formula was illegal.

The formula placed 15 marks at the discretion of the CSB. Five marks for integrity/general reputation/perception had over had the overriding effect on the remaining 95 marks.

The overriding effect meant that an officer could not be promoted unless the board grants him/her at least three out of the five marks.

Justice Siddiqui had directed the Establishment Division to reframe the formula by taking away the overriding effect of the marks to be awarded by the CSB and categorise the civil servants within one month.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2015.