Bureaucracy, police are victims of the worst form of politicisation

ISLAMABAD: A PPP Senator, while referring to the Quaid’s 1948 address to civil servants, tweeted on Wednesday: “All civil servants from now on should refuse to follow illegal orders and follow the example set by the Sindh Police and adhere to Jinnah’s advice…” One hopes this advice of the PPP Senator is not only meant to check the interference of the establishment in civilian matters – including in the domains of the bureaucracy and police -- but also that of civilian rulers and politicians.

The recent Karachi incident is highly condemnable and was the result of the alleged interference of the Rangers. But the fact remains that the country's civilian bureaucracy and police are also victims of the worst form of politicisation at the hands of politicians and civil governments.

If we want to learn a lesson from the Karachi incident, it should not be about the military’s interference in civil affairs alone. It is rather a golden opportunity to depoliticise the country’s administrative machinery and protect it from interference of every kind.

The sad truth is that the bureaucracy --which has failed to deliver and is in a really bad shape because of massive external interference and political-based appointments, postings and transfers -- has been treated like a personal servant by politicians and successive governments, whether led by the PTI, PPP, PML-N or even a military dictator.

Every political party in its election manifesto promises to reform the police and depoliticise the bureaucracy. But when any of them comes to power, they forget their promise and further politicise the bureaucracy. If the situation was bad for civil servants during the PPP and PML-N governments, it is even worse today under the PTI government.

Punjab is one example of a province where at least five chief secretaries and five IGs Police have been changed in just over two years. Secretaries of provincial departments, senior field officers including commissioners, deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners, regional police officers, district police officers etc, are transferred in months and there is hardly any example where a civil servant in a key position is allowed to complete his tenure.

The situation for the bureaucracy and police in Sindh is also bad. There is no protection for the bureaucracy in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) either whereas the federal government has done nothing to depoliticise the civil service.

The law and rules governing the civil service negate its politicisation, protect a government servant’s tenure and encourage the bureaucracy to work in an impartial manner and not to follow illegal orders from anyone. But practically, every bit of these laws and rules is violated and as consequence Pakistan has perhaps one of the most politicised bureaucracies in the world.

In numerous judgements, the superior judiciary directed governments to check the politicization of the bureaucracy and respect the tenure of government servants. However, no government has shown any interest in implementing these court orders. As a result, not only have the country’s policy-making bodies – the federal and provincial secretariats -- suffered badly but service delivery, governance and government department institutions have also gone to the dogs.

Several years ago, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark judgment in the Anita Turab case to protect government servants from premature and politically motivated transfers. The SC in the order had directed all governments to ensure the implementation of its decision. But neither the federal nor the provincial governments took the judgment seriously.

Consequently, most if not all, of the premature transfers and postings, both at the federal level and in the provinces, are made in sheer violation of the SC’s decision in the Anita Turab case. None of the governments is adhering to the parameters set by the Supreme Court for the posting and transfer of civil servants or to protect their tenure and save the bureaucracy from politicisation.

Frequent transfers and postings of officers at different levels badly hurt the performance and efficiency of the civil servants and as a consequence, the quality of governance deteriorates with every passing day.

In the Anita Turab case, the SC had laid down the following principles to protect government servants from politicisation:

i) Appointments, removals and promotions: Appointments, removals and promotions must be made in accordance with the law and the rules made thereunder; where no such law or rule exists and the matter has been left to discretion, such discretion must be exercised in a structured, transparent and reasonable manner and in the public interest.

ii) Tenure, posting and transfer: When the ordinary tenure for a posting has been specified in the law or rules made thereunder, such tenure must be respected and cannot be varied, except for compelling reasons, which should be recorded in writing and are judicially reviewable.

iii) Illegal orders: Civil servants owe their first and foremost allegiance to the law and the Constitution. They are not bound to obey orders from superiors which are illegal or are not in accordance with accepted practices and rules; instead, in such situations, they must record their opinion and, if necessary, dissent.

iv) OSD: Officers should not be posted as OSD except for compelling reasons, which must be recorded in writing and are judicially reviewable. If at all an officer is to be posted as OSD, such posting should be for the minimum period possible and if there is a disciplinary inquiry going on against him, such inquiry must be completed at the earliest.

The SC had stated that “although it is conscious that the aforesaid matters relate to decision-making and administration of the machinery of the state, we have recognised the need for ensuring that decision-making in relation to tenures, appointments, promotions and transfers remains rule based and is not susceptible to arbitrariness or absolute and unfettered discretion.”

Under the apex court’s direction, the copies of the judgment were sent to the Federal Secretary Establishment, the chief secretaries of the provinces, the commissioner Islamabad Capital Territory and to the secretaries of all federal and provincial government departments. However, this landmark judgment has unfortunately been completely ignored by the authorities concerned.