Revised draft of police transfer, posting rules submitted on Dec 13, IGP tells SHC

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday directed the provincial government to submit a report with regard to implementation of rules of police transfers, postings and tenures in accordance with the court’s directives.

The report was sought after the Sindh Inspector General of Police informed the high court that the revised draft of the rules was sent to the Sindh chief secretary on December 13 to be forwarded to the provincial cabinet.

Appearing before the court, the Sindh Advocate General sought more time to seek instructions from the provincial government to file his comments. The hearing was adjourned till the second week of January.

The SHC’s directives came on an application filed by civil society representatives seeking implementation of the court’s orders regarding rules of police transfer, postings and tenures being followed.

Petitioner Karamat Ali and others had submitted that the SHC in its September 7 judgment had quashed the transfer and posting notifications of senior police officers issued by the Sindh government on July 7, 2017.

The court had noted that all similar notifications were unlawful as the authority to transfer and post police officers, at all levels, including officers of the Police Service of Pakistan serving in the province, vests in the Sindh IGP and is to be exercised by him in terms of rules or orders to be framed.

The court had directed the IG Sindh to frame a draft of the rules within 30 days, setting out the manner in which he (and/or the police hierarchy acting through him) is to exercise the power, maintained the petitioners.

They added that court had observed that rules must also, inter alia, set out the period or term that is ordinarily to be served at any level/post, so as to ensure that the rule laid down by the Supreme Court in the Anita Turab case is applied in relation thereto.

As per the SHC’s orders, the draft rules are to be submitted to the provincial government (meaning the provincial cabinet) and also, to ensure transparency, posted simultaneously and prominently on the main page of the Sindh Police’s website.

According to the petitioners, the Sindh cabinet did not implement the judgment in letter and spirit and instead again tried to remove the IG Sindh to delay and avoid the enactment of the draft rules framed by the provincial police chief. At a previous hearing, they petitioners had requested the court to direct the provincial chief secretary and the IG Sindh to file a report regarding the matter.

Education sector uplift

The SHC directed the counsel of petitioners, seeking direction for the Sindh government to improve the province’s education sector, to argue whether the petition was maintainable or not.

Petitioners Alamgir Khan and others maintained that Article 25-A ensures the right to free and compulsory education of all children from 5 years of age to 16 years but a unanimous syllabus was not being followed in public and private schools of the province.

The petitioners had also requested the court to order the Sindh government to present reports concerning allocation of funds in the sector and their spending. They submitted that there were not enough middle and high schools in Sindh to meet the challenge of providing necessary education to all children. Citing a survey report, the petitioners added that around 6,000 government schools were dysfunctional, whereas the number of ghost teaching and non-teaching staff in the province is over 40,000. The hearing was adjourned till a date to be fixed by the office.