Govt implements SC decision after 17 years

ISLAMABAD: Following decades long litigations originating from inter-service rivalries in the civilian bureaucracy, the Establishment Division was on Tuesday made by the Supreme Court to implement its 17-year-old order for the promotion of three retired federal secretaries with effect from 1994.
Following the SC’s intervention, the Establishment Division on Tuesday produced before the apex court backdated, with effect from 1994, notifications for the promotion of three retired bureaucrats Dr Aleem Mehmood, Dr Hamid Qureshi and Akbar Hayat Gandapur.
Litigation amongst former CSPs, OMGs and three other groups of civil servants recruited in 1973, 1974 and 1975 have been going on since 1980 and following the creation of the Secretariat Group as a consequence of the administrative reforms of 1973.
In Oct 1987, the Supreme Court decided the principle of seniority for OMG and lateral entrant officers but the Establishment Division treated it as judgment in personam and refused to extend its benefits to other officers.
This was despite the fact that on reference to the Law and Justice Division, the ED was advised by the then secretary law and justice division on 23-02-1993 that “The decision in the case of Wahidi became final the moment appeal of the Establishment Division was dismissed by the Supreme Court.
“It is clearly provided in Article 189 of the Constitution that a decision of the Supreme Court to the extent that it decides a question of law or is based upon or enunciates a principle of law shall be binding on all other courts in Pakistan. In this view of the matter, the principle of law laid down or upheld by the Supreme Court in Wahidi’s case has to be followed in all future matters.....”
Dr Aleem Mahmud and some other officers had to approach the courts in another round of litigation and the Supreme Court in April 1998 finally reiterated the judgment passed in the case of Wahidi (1998 PSC 797).
In anticipation, the former CSP officers approached the Lahore High Court which held in 1995 that bifurcation of CivilService of Pakistan that was renamed as All Pakistan Unified Grads was without lawful authority. Dr Aleem Mahmud filed a Civil Appeal No1472/1999 challenging the impugned order. The plea taken by the former CSP officers who sought treatment at par with the members of District Management Group for promotion and LHC decision declaring the formation of the Secretariat Group as illegal, was rejected by the Supreme Court.
In the meantime, the Supreme Court also settled the seniority and promotion principle of former CSP officers and held that they could only become deputy secretary after completing 12 years service in BPS 17-18 instead of assumed eight years service which was a legibility criteria for the lateral entry exams.
A meeting for promotion to BS-22 was held in April 2000 by a high level board comprising President Musharraf, late General Ghulam Ahmad, Tariq Aziz and the late Tariq Saeed Haroon. The latter two officers who were members of this high level board were also considered in the same board for promotion in BPS-22 and were approved but the officers agitating implementation were ignored.
While the promotions in 2000 were challenged, the Establishment Division was waiting for the retirement of the officers whose seniority cases were decided in their favour in the Supreme Court. In 2007, the then Chief Justice of Pakistan appointed a committee comprising three joint secretaries to fix responsibility for the non implementation of the 1998 Supreme Court’s decision.
The committee submitted its reports within three months. The report held five officers of the Establishment Division responsible of non implementation of the Supreme Court’s decision.
Of late, the apex court issued contempt notice to the Secretary Establishment for the non implementation of the Supreme Court judgment of 1998. On Tuesday, the secretary Establishment presented before the apex court the notification for the promotion of the petitioner Dr Aleem Mahmud as joint secretary from 1982, as additional secretary from 1988 and as federal secretary from 1994.
According to Dr Aleem, two other retired secretaries, Dr Hamid Qureshi and Akbar Hayat Gandapur, also benefited from the apex court’s intervention to get its 1998 order implemented.