Ex-secretary to move court against current, former speakers of KP Assembly

PESHAWAR: Former Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Amanullah Khan has decided to move the Election Commission of Pakistan for disqualification of both the current assembly speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani and his predecessor Asad Qaiser after the court declared in a judgment that they were involved in promoting nepotism in appointments at the assembly secretariat.

"On behalf of Amanullah Khan, I am preparing a case for disqualification of Mushtaq Ghani and Asad Qaiser for violating their oaths," his lawyer Ali Azeem Afridi told The News on Sunday.

The former secretary said he would lodge a case first in the ECP and then file writ petition for their disqualification in the Peshawar High Court. He reminded that the court found them involved in violation of their authority in cases of promotion and appointment in the assembly secretariat.

A three-member bench of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Service Tribunal, consisting of Mohammad Hamid Mughal, Mohammad Amin Khan Kundi and Ahmad Hassan on December 10, 2018 passed a judgment in the appeal against appointment of junior additional secretary of the KP Assembly, Nasrullah Khan, once again as secretary of the assembly in violation of the court decisions by the current speaker and members of the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC).

The tribunal in its detailed judgment once again declared that the appointment of junior additional secretary as secretary of the assembly is illegal and that the current and former speakers of the KP Assembly were involved in promoting cronyism and nepotism.

"By now it has been established beyond any shadow of doubt that the former and the present speaker of KP Assembly and members of DPC have one-point agenda to promote cronyism, nepotism and favouritism at the cost of merit, transparency, fairness, equality and justice," the three-member tribunal ruled in a detailed judgment on an appeal of senior additional secretary KP Assembly Kifayatullah Khan against the appointment of a junior officer as the secretary of the assembly.

"It amounts to misuse of official authority and is open to cognisance/judicial scrutiny by the quarters concerned," the Service Tribunal explained in the judgment. After the court judgment, Amanullah Khan's lawyer said it was the duty of Election Commission of Pakistan to take notice of the acts of the speakers for violating their oaths as member of the provincial and national assemblies.

He said the court had clearly mentioned that the acts of the speakers to promote junior secretary of the assembly time and again were against the rules and open to judicial scrutiny by the quarters concerned.

As per the judgment, the tribunal first declared on November 8, 2017 as illegal the decision of the Departmental Promotion Committee and the August 15 (2017) notification by the then assembly speaker and current National Assembly Speaker, Asad Qaiser, about the promotion of a junior officer Nasrullah Khan as the secretary to the appellant Kifayatullah.

During the pendency of the appeal in September 2018, the Departmental Promotion Committee again recommended the promotion of Nasrullah Khan, whose promotion was declared illegal. After the DPC decision, the current assembly Speaker, Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani, on September 25, 2018 again issued notification of the junior secretary as secretary of the assembly.

"Before parting with the judgment, apprehensions are lurking in our mind that adverse findings of this Tribunal may pique the ego of the respondents (speakers) and in line with their tradition, possibility of again violating the court/Tribunal orders cannot be ruled out," the three-member bench observed in the judgment.

The tribunal noted that the bone of contention in the appeal was promotion of the respondent Nasrullah Khan to the post of the secretary of the provincial assembly (BPS-21) even though he was junior to the appellant (Kifayatullah). He was cleared and recommended by the DPC in its meeting on August 11, 2017 and was notified as secretary on August 15, 2017.

It said the appellant (Kifayatullah) was the senior most additional secretary fully eligible for promotion. "Perusal of the minutes of the DPC meeting revealed that during the course of consideration, nothing adverse was found against the appellant," said the judgment.

It is pertinent to mention that Peshawar High Court in two writ petitions had also declared illegal the appointment of Waqar Shah as special secretary to the then KP Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser.