Mass irregular promotions likely to ruin Motorway Police
September 19, 2012
ISLAMABAD: The National Highway and Motorway Police will promote on Wednesday two-and-a-half dozen Senior Patrolling Officers, who have been given backdated seniority. This promotion would affect the right of some 171 officers, record reveals.
There is every likelihood that these promotions will be challenged in the courts immediately.The Motorway Police are known for its zero-corruption and transparency in the country, but due to the issue of backdated seniority to the deputationists who were later absorbed in the department, the seniors have become juniors and many competent and upright SPOs were forced to leave the service as their promotion was probably permanently blocked .
Even the former Inspector General of Motorway Police was concerned about the crisis among the Senior Patrolling Officers and was worried about their future because 51 competent and well-educated officers had already left the service after seeing the obstacles in promotion and the regular batch of year 2002 was left with only 171 officers. Most of these 171 officers hold Masters degree while those given preference over them were mere matriculates and holding intermediate certificates.
It is worth mentioning here that SPOs are considered to be the backbone of the Motorway Police and it was because of these educated officers that it was possible to build a corruption-free police for motorways and highways.
This fact of backdated seniority surfaced in 2007 for the first time and the aggrieved officers went to departmental representations and later to the courts against such strange backdated seniority to the deputationists. The matter landed in the Supreme Court where the chief justice of Pakistan remanded the case to the Federal Service Tribunal. The FST has declared their plea as time barred. Their appeal is lying before the Supreme Court but the department is continuously promoting the officers with backdated seniority.
Well-placed sources in the Motorway Police told The News that a meeting of Departmental Promotion Committee has been called by Inspector General NH&MP on Wednesday (today) to promote 30 SPOs with backdated seniority to the rank of Chief Patrolling Officers. The department has already promoted some over 50 SPOs mostly with backdated seniority, documents furnished to The News reveal.
Details reveal that some 222 Senior Patrolling Officers were regularly inducted into the Motorway Police in 2002 whereas scores of officers were already working in the Motorway Police on deputation. Interestingly, on 8th January, 2003 a letter bearing No FHP-41 (5)/02 was issued by the Ministry of Communications saying that 54 officers of regular police were inducted into the Motorway Police with backdated seniority. Similarly, many other notifications were issued inducting one or two officers of regular police in the Motorway Police with backdated seniority. So far, more than 268 deputationists inducted into the Motorway Police have been placed above these regular SPOs and even 52 among these deputationists have also been promoted against the posts of Chief Patrolling Officer.
The regularly inducted SPOs say that the backdated seniority to the deputationists has blocked their promotion and many of them would retire as SPOs though all of them were in their late-30s, therefore, there was nothing left in the Motorway Police for them if the newly-inducted officers’ promotion was not reverted. Many say that they were mulling over leaving the service while many others have already said good-bye to the most efficient department of Pakistan. The SPOs say that the department wants that either they should start doing corruption to earn some money or should leave the department.
Normally, if an officer on deputation is inducted in any department, he is placed at the bottom of the seniority list whereas the officers inducted into the Motorway Police were placed on the top of the seniority list.
There is every likelihood that these promotions will be challenged in the courts immediately.The Motorway Police are known for its zero-corruption and transparency in the country, but due to the issue of backdated seniority to the deputationists who were later absorbed in the department, the seniors have become juniors and many competent and upright SPOs were forced to leave the service as their promotion was probably permanently blocked .
Even the former Inspector General of Motorway Police was concerned about the crisis among the Senior Patrolling Officers and was worried about their future because 51 competent and well-educated officers had already left the service after seeing the obstacles in promotion and the regular batch of year 2002 was left with only 171 officers. Most of these 171 officers hold Masters degree while those given preference over them were mere matriculates and holding intermediate certificates.
It is worth mentioning here that SPOs are considered to be the backbone of the Motorway Police and it was because of these educated officers that it was possible to build a corruption-free police for motorways and highways.
This fact of backdated seniority surfaced in 2007 for the first time and the aggrieved officers went to departmental representations and later to the courts against such strange backdated seniority to the deputationists. The matter landed in the Supreme Court where the chief justice of Pakistan remanded the case to the Federal Service Tribunal. The FST has declared their plea as time barred. Their appeal is lying before the Supreme Court but the department is continuously promoting the officers with backdated seniority.
Well-placed sources in the Motorway Police told The News that a meeting of Departmental Promotion Committee has been called by Inspector General NH&MP on Wednesday (today) to promote 30 SPOs with backdated seniority to the rank of Chief Patrolling Officers. The department has already promoted some over 50 SPOs mostly with backdated seniority, documents furnished to The News reveal.
Details reveal that some 222 Senior Patrolling Officers were regularly inducted into the Motorway Police in 2002 whereas scores of officers were already working in the Motorway Police on deputation. Interestingly, on 8th January, 2003 a letter bearing No FHP-41 (5)/02 was issued by the Ministry of Communications saying that 54 officers of regular police were inducted into the Motorway Police with backdated seniority. Similarly, many other notifications were issued inducting one or two officers of regular police in the Motorway Police with backdated seniority. So far, more than 268 deputationists inducted into the Motorway Police have been placed above these regular SPOs and even 52 among these deputationists have also been promoted against the posts of Chief Patrolling Officer.
The regularly inducted SPOs say that the backdated seniority to the deputationists has blocked their promotion and many of them would retire as SPOs though all of them were in their late-30s, therefore, there was nothing left in the Motorway Police for them if the newly-inducted officers’ promotion was not reverted. Many say that they were mulling over leaving the service while many others have already said good-bye to the most efficient department of Pakistan. The SPOs say that the department wants that either they should start doing corruption to earn some money or should leave the department.
Normally, if an officer on deputation is inducted in any department, he is placed at the bottom of the seniority list whereas the officers inducted into the Motorway Police were placed on the top of the seniority list.
