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Govt forms body to peruse draft of new police rules

By our correspondents
October 20, 2017

The Sindh government has constituted a committee headed by the home minister to peruse the draft of new rules of postings, transfers and tenures in the provincial law enforcement agency.

A notification issued on Thursday by the chief secretary stated that the committee was constituted with the approval of the chief minister to examine the draft of ‘Sindh Police (Posting, Transfer & Tenure) Rules, 2017’.

If the body seeks any amendments, they would be recommended to the Sindh cabinet when the draft is forwarded to them for consideration, added the statement. The home minister would be the chairman of the committee, and the law minister, the advocate general, the home secretary and the law secretary its members, while other functionaries, if any, would be its co-opted members.

The terms of reference of the committee state that the body would carefully examine the draft and propose recommendations for amendments, if any; the body would then submit them to the CM for his approval before submission to the cabinet.

The preliminary version of rules was drafted by a committee formed by the Sindh police chief in compliance with the high court’s September 7 order.

The body was to frame draft rules to set out the manner in which the police chief or the hierarchy acting through him were to exercise the power of transfers and postings in the agency at all levels.

The rules were ordered to be framed in a manner that ensured autonomy of command and independence of operation and were to be transparent and fair in operation and effect.

They were also to define the term ordinarily to be served at any level and post so as to ensure that the rules laid down by the Supreme Court in the 2012 Anita Turab case, concerning de-politicisation of the bureaucracy, were followed.

The police chief’s draft states that he should have the authority to transfer and post any officer at any level, notwithstanding the tenure, as well as to delegate the powers to his subordinates.

Referring to posts on which the police officers are to be transferred and posted, the rules suggest that the officers designated at a command post could not be transferred from the post unless they complete the tenure assigned under the police rules.