PHC takes up amendments to civil service rules

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday took up a writ petition about the amendments to the civil service rules and issued notices to the federal government.

A division bench of the PHC heard arguments in the writ petition filed by Additional Secretary Fahatullah Marwat on behalf of the All Pakistan Provincial Civil Services Association (APPCSA).

The court stayed the notification issued on March 12 by the Establishment Division Islamabad, directing the federal government to submit a reply on the next hearing on April 14.

The APPCSA was represented by Umar Gillani and Ali Gohar Durrani advocates.

The PCS officers association filed the writ petition in the PHC against a notification of the Establishment Division Islamabad issued on March 12.

The PCS officers argued that through the notification the officers of the Pakistan Administrative Service has increased Its seats in all the provinces manifold. As per the statistics of the APPCSA, their total sanctioned posts in the four provinces stand at 5,513 - 2,038 in Punjab, 1,757 in Sindh 1,346 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 372 in Balochistan. The APPCSA claimed that sanctioned posts of PAS were 147, but the cadre held 1,947 posts.

The provincial officers from across the country have recently started a movement to get due share in postings as well as other rights.

The provincial bureaucrats wrote to Prime Minister Imran Khan against the March 12 notification and posting of PAS officers to the provincial seats. “The provincial posts are constitutional prerogative of the Provincial Assembly under Article 240 (b). Provinces have exclusive legislative, financial and executive authority on provincial posts under Articles 142 (c), 137,129,97 & 121(b) of the Constitution of Pakistan,” stated a letter of the PCS and PMS officers to the PM.

The letter added that provincial posts are subject matter of provinces and the Establishment Division cannot exercise federal executive authority on exclusive constitutional matters of provinces.

“The Establishment Division has committed subversion of the constitution by usurping provincial posts. Provincial and federal domain must be kept in order to make Pakistan a functional federation. Furthermore, powers of Establishment Division to reserve provincial posts for central services are challenged in the PHC and issuing such unconstitutional, illegal notification will take Provincial Civil Services to agitation,” stated a letter to the PM sent recently.