Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of a case till March 22, after the assurance of the Standing Counsel to submit a reply on behalf of the Establishment Division regarding the promotion case bureaucrats.

Justice Aamir Farooq of the IHC heard the case regarding alleged nepotism and the likes & dislikes policy in the recent promotions of about 405 officers filed by the 17 officers of different service groups.

During the hearing, Standing Counsel Abdul khaliq Thand appeared before the court on behalf of the Establishment Division. He requested the court to grant some time to collect the record regarding the promotions of officers.

He assured the bench that the Attorney General would appear before the court and submit the relevant record. The court adjourned the case till March 22.

During the last hearing, the court had expressed displeasure over the non-submission of reply and asked the joint secretary of division whether he had come to walk there? The court had ordered the Secretary Establishment to submit an answer in this hearing.

It may be mentioned here that 17 officers of various service groups had filed a petition against alleged nepotism and likes and dislikes policy in recent promotions from Grade 19 to 20 and from Grade 20 to 22. The petitioner had claimed in the petition that a bureaucrat lobby sitting at the Prime Minister House had intervened and influenced the promotion process.

The Establishment Division was not informing the officers about the minutes of the CSB meeting and reasons under which they were not promoted despite recommendations.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan on February 25, had approved the promotions of 405 officers from Grade 19 to 20 and from Grade 20 to 21 while 187 officers couldn’t be promoted.

The PM had rejected the promotions of 94 officers while 93 promotions were stopped by the Prime Minister House.

The officers said that the Principal Secretary to the PM, Fawad Hassan Fawad, had allegedly played a key role in depriving the eligible officers from getting promoted.

The government had promoted 405 officers of BPS 19 and 20 while 94 officers were not promoted regardless of the fact that their names were recommended by the CSB.

Another official said the government had no solid reason to stop their promotions.