KP Assembly official gets justice after 12 years

PESHAWAR: Ghulam Sarwar, additional secretary KP Assembly, has finally got justice after almost 12 years as the speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in compliance with the court order notified his ante-dated promotion since August 18, 2007 with all back benefits/consequential benefits.

“The appellant is promoted as additional secretary (BPS-19) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly from the date his junior colleague (respondent No 3 Nasrullah) was promoted as additional secretary with back benefits and consequential benefits,” stated the notification issued by KP Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani and produced in the Service Tribunal as compliance report of the court decision.

It was stated in the notification that, “Perusal of the notification issued on September 25, 2007 mentioned above would also reveal that criteria of promotion to the higher post of senior additional secretary (PBS-19) and secretary (BPS-21) KP Assembly Secretariat is also based on seniority-cum-fitness as subsequent promotions if any of junior colleagues of appellant to higher post, ie the senior additional secretary, during the pendency of present appeal is also set aside as consequential benefits.”

The notification further stated that the appellant Ghulam Sarwar’s request in the appeal filed on July 17, 2014 is that the promotion order of his junior Nasrullah as additional secretary issued on June 25, 2014 be set aside and requested his ante-date promotion as well as consequential benefits with effect from August 18, 2007.

In view of the decision of Service Tribunal passed on September 14, 2017, the notification stated that Ghulam Sarwar is allowed ante-dated promotion as an additional secretary with effect from August 18, 2007.

“As for the promotion of secretary (PBS-21), the matter regarding promotion shall be placed before the earliest available Departmental Promotion Committee for considering the suitable/appropriate candidate in accordance with the law in the shortest possible time,” the speaker stated in the notification.

In September 2014, the tribunal had declared the promotion of another additional secretary Nasrullah to the post of secretary in BPS-21 as void and directed the then respondent speaker Asad Qaiser to promote the petitioner along with all benefits.

The provincial government through the then speaker and Nasrullah then challenged the decision in the Supreme Court. On August 28, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeals filed by the KP Assembly speaker and Nasrullah.

In the meanwhile, the appellant Ghulam Sarwar had also filed execution petition in the Service Tribunal for implementation of its order, in which the court had summoned the then speaker to the court asking him to explain position for not implementing the order.

However, the present speaker in compliance with the court decision issued the notification on September 5 and produced it in the court during the hearing of the execution petition.

A Peshawar-based lawyer, Ali Azeem Afridi, had also filed a contempt of court petition against the speaker and for allowing Nasrullah to act as secretary KP Assembly even after the Service Tribunal decision. Today, the lawyer informed a division bench of Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan and Justice Muhammad Ayub that the petition had become anfractuous as the speaker KP Assembly complied with the court order by demoting Nasrullah from the post of secretary.

Ghulam Sarwar had been ignored two times for the promotion, first in the ANP-led coalition government and secondly in the PTI-led provincial government.

First the petitioner (Ghulam Sarwar) was superseded twice by junior Nasrullah Khan on the post of additional secretary and on the post of secretary.

The petitioner claimed that respondent (Nasrullah) has been wrongly considered for promotion on the basis of working paper prepared under his supervision as special secretary enjoying full administrative control over the Administration Department of the secretariat.

The Service Tribunal set aside the notification about the promotion of Nasrullah as secretary KP Assembly and ordered the speaker to promote the petitioner to the post with all benefits.