PHC suspends KP govt notification on increase in salaries

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday suspended the notification of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on sanctioning of Executive Allowance for officers working against scheduled posts of establishment and administration departments with initial basic pay plus one-and-half-month initial pay. A two-member bench comprising Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Muhammad Ayub Khan suspended the notification in a writ petition filed by a Peshawar-based lawyer Gul Rehman Mohmand. The lawyer had challenged the KP government's notification of February 2, 2018, sanctioning Executive Allowance to the officers. The bench also issued the notice to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government through chief secretary, secretary Establishment and KP Accountant General to submit reply in the case. The lawyer submitted that the PAS, PCS and PMS officers, BPS-17 and above, were now getting a huge salary as compared to officers of other departments. He said the police officials from BPS-7 to officers grades are serving as front security round the clock whereas the officers BPS-17 and above are working 5-day in week and that too for 6 to 7 hours a day. The salaries paid to the police officials is very less while the officers of BPS-17 and above are drawing a huge salary per month. The lawyer argued that the province was called a poor province and the people were still deprived of basic facilities of health, clean drinking water and education and on the other hand only sanctioning huge allowances to the officers is illegal and unlawful that amounting to be a bribe to the government officers working against schedule post.