KP Assembly Speaker promotes senior official, despite court orders

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker has once again promoted junior Additional Secretary Nasrullah to the post of Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly (BPS-21) even though he had been demoted earlier by the Services Tribunal.

“On the recommendations of Departmental Promotion/Recruitment Committee No 1 and in exercise of the powers conferred on him by Rule 10 read with Rule 6 of the KP Provincial Assembly Secretariat (Recruitment) Rules 1974, Mr Speaker has been pleased to promote Mr Nasrullah Khan, Additional Secretary BPS-20 (Personal) of the Provincial Assembly Secretariat of KP, against the vacant post of secretary (BPS-21) with immediate effect,” stated the notification issued by KP Assembly Speaker.

The notification was issued after the Supreme Court and Services Tribunal decisions in which Nasrullah Khan, whose original grade is BPS-19, was termed junior to Kifayatullah Afridi, senior additional secretary KP Assembly in BPS-20 since 2009. He was even declared junior to Ghulam Sarwar, another additional secretary.

Recently, the KP Assembly in a notification in compliance with the courts’ orders demoted Nasrullah Khan from the post of secretary to additional secretary in the case of additional secretary KP Assembly Ghulam Sarwar.

“The appellant is promoted as additional secretary (BPS-19) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly from the date his junior colleague (respondent No 3 Nasrullah) was promoted as additional secretary with back benefits and consequential benefits,” stated the notification issued by KP Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani and produced in the Services Tribunal as compliance report of the court decision.

It was stated in the notification that, “Perusal of the notification issued on September 25, 2007 mentioned above would also reveal that criteria of promotion to the higher post of senior additional secretary (PBS-19) and secretary (BPS-21) KP Assembly Secretariat is also based on seniority-cum-fitness as subsequent promotions if any of junior colleagues of appellant to higher post, ie the senior additional secretary, during the pendency of present appeal is also set aside as consequential benefits.”

The notification further stated that the appellant Ghulam Sarwar’s request in the appeal filed on July 17, 2014 is that the promotion order of his junior Nasrullah as additional secretary issued on June 25, 2014 be set aside and requested his ante-date promotion as well as consequential benefits with effect from August 18, 2007.

In view of the decision of Services Tribunal passed on September 14, 2017, the notification stated that Ghulam Sarwar is allowed ante-dated promotion as an additional secretary with effect from August 18, 2007.

“As for the promotion of secretary (PBS-21), the matter regarding promotion shall be placed before the earliest available Departmental Promotion Committee for considering the suitable/appropriate candidate in accordance with the law in the shortest possible time,” the speaker stated in the notification.

In September 2014, the tribunal had declared the promotion of additional secretary Nasrullah Khan to the post of secretary in BPS-21 as void and directed the then respondent speaker Asad Qaiser to promote the petitioner along with all benefits.

The provincial government through the then speaker and Nasrullah Khan later challenged the decision in the Supreme Court. On August 28, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeals filed by the KP Assembly speaker and Nasrullah Khan.