NCCIA requests SHC to vacate stay order on appointment of Sindh director

The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) on Friday requested the Sindh High Court (SHC) to vacate its interim stay order in respect of appointment of an NCCIA official.

Filing comments on the petition of Sindh NCCIA provincial director Shahzad Haider against his transfer and the posting of a junior officer as the director, the NCCIA submitted that the agency’s impugned office order was a lawful administrative decision issued under the Section 29(2) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) and it did not violate the petitioner’s fundamental rights.

The NCCIA submitted that the assignment of look-after charge given to another NCCIA officer was a temporary administrative measure justified by the operational needs and did not contravene the Rule 8(B)(1) of the Civil Servants (Appointment, Promotion and Transfer) Rules 1973 or any other judicial precedents.

The NCCIA additional director law submitted that the petitioner’s allegation of failure to fill the post of director through promotion was misconceived. He said the NCCIA was in the process of convening its central selection board to fill the post on a regular basis. The law director said that temporary assignment of look-after charge to another officer instead of the petitioner was lawful and did not infringe upon the petitioner’s right as seniority was not the sole criterion for such an assignment.

It was submitted that the petitioner had also an alternative remedy through the service tribunal and so the constitutional jurisdiction under the Article 199 could not be invoked in the instant matter.

The high court was requested to vacate the interim order as the impugned office order was issued in accordance with the law. A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Faisal Kamal Alam after taking the comments on record adjourned the hearing till May 23.

It is pertinent to mention that the SHC had earlier ordered status quo in respect of the appointment of the NCCIA Sindh director till further orders. The petitioner’s counsel, Zamir Ghumro, had submitted that the petitioner was on the first place of the seniority list and was holding the charge of NCCIA senior director and under the law, no junior officer could be posted in his place as this had already been held by superior courts.

He submitted that under the amended Peca, the cyber wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had been abolished and all the staff sent to the NCCIA. The counsel submitted that sending the present director of the Sindh NCCIA, who was an employee of the NCCIA, to the FIA was a violation of the section 29 of Peca, which barred such transfers as the FIA had now no concern with cybercrime.

He submitted that the federal government could not violate its own law by posting provincial directors at its whims and wishes. The counsel submitted that under the rules, only a senior additional director could be posted as the provincial director in case of non-availability of a grade 20 officer.