Auditor general ignores PHC orders about officials’ promotion

PESHAWAR: The auditor general of Pakistan has twice ignored the orders of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) about promotion of assistant audit officers to the posts of audit officers in grade-18.
Earlier, the PHC had been assured in a contempt petition that the names of three assistant audit officers of auditor general of Pakistan would be forwarded to the Departmental Promotion Committee for consideration in next meeting.
One of the petitioners, Gul Muhammad, assistant audit officer, told The News on Sunday that the auditor general of Pakistan’s Departmental Promotion Committee meeting was held on January 16, 2015, in which only one petitioner , Amjad Khan, was promoted to the post of audit officer in grade-18. The two petitioners were ignored again.
Ignoring the two petitioners in promotion to the post of audit officer again amounts to contempt of court. It is so because the officials concerned in a contempt of court petition had assured the court that all the petitioners would be considered for promotion to the higher scale in next meeting.
The PHC had allowed the writ petition of the assistant audit officers from Peshawar on June 25, 2014. It had directed the auditor general of Pakistan to forward the cases of the petitioners to departmental promotion committee for consideration about promotion to the higher scale against the vacant posts.
The court had also stated in the order that three vacant posts were also vacant, for which the petitioners were to be promoted. They were also eligible for the promotion as audit officer in grade-18.
The petitioners then filed a contempt of court petition against the authorities concerned after they failed to comply with the court orders on their promotions.
In reply to the contempt petition, Muhammad Saeed Tiwana, director (legal) of auditor general of Pakistan submitted before the bench that the three petitioners including Gul Muhammad and two others, assistant audit officers would be considered for promotions as audit officer in grade-18 in the next Departmental Promotion Committee meeting.
The Departmental Promotion Committee, in its January 16 meeting, promoted 34 assistant audit officers (grade-17) to the post of audit officer (Grade-18) across the country. But despite the court’s orders, the two petitioners were not considered for promotion. The petitioners, being eligible for the higher scale, had applied for the promotion in 2012.